From Our Correspondent
Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah has unveiled plans to generate at least 1,000 megawatts of power from the state’s coal deposits.
He stated this in Lagos at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce ,NBCC, “Meet the Governor Series”, where he presented a business case for investing in Enugu. He said Enugu coal is of premium quality with minimal sulphur content, making it highly suitable for power generation with reduced environmental risks.
Quoting him, “We cannot treat our coal as a stranded asset, particularly the Enugu coal, which is a premium coal. Our target is to see how we can use our coal to generate at least 1000 megawatts of power. We do have technology today that makes coal utilisation less adverse to the environment. Essentially, that is the direction for us”.
He explained that Enugu coal deposits have less than 0.5% sulphur content. “For a lot of coal, if you have 1.0% you are still okay. But we have 0.5%. Our coal is also very good to fire power plants due to its high calorific value. So, we are on that and we are not going to warehouse our coal resources”.
The Governor also stated that his administration had cut crimes by over 80 per cent through strategic investment in security infrastructure.
In his words, “Businesses are not designed to absorb security challenges. So, we have to get that out of the way. That is why we invested hugely in the area of security to build infrastructure that will enable us to defeat criminal activities. Today, in Enugu we have reduced the crime rate by over 80%”.
On tourism, the governor said the completion of the Enugu International Conference Centre ,ICC, which hosted 20,000 participants during the 2025 Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference had boosted the hospitality potentials of the state.
Quoting him, “Enugu naturally lends itself to tourism. We are building the Cross of Hope, which is something we want to put in place to attract religious tourism. The highest point in Enugu State is about 580 metres above sea level, and we are bringing a massive cross of about 100 metres to put on its highest point.
“Our plan is to bring in three million visitors. So, we worked with an investor to get the concessioning of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport. Hopefully, the international wing of the airport will be operational by the first quarter of 2026. We are also investing to build the cargo terminal.
“We are looking at bringing in additional six aircraft for Enugu Air for the Christmas season. We are obviously going to expand very quickly because we have surpassed our projections within one month of operation”.
Mbah added that by 2026, the state would have four branded hotels to cater to the expected tourism boom.
In his welcome remarks, NBCC President, Mr Abimbola Olashore, praised Mbah’s leadership and vision, describing Enugu as “a state on the move”.
According to him, “We have seen bold steps in digital governance, in infrastructure expansion, and in creative public-private partnerships. Each of these signals a state that is not waiting for the future, but actively shaping it”.
Also speaking, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Jonny Baxter, said the UK-Nigeria trade relationship had reached £7.9 billion, the highest on record, with the United Kingdom accounting for 65% of all foreign direct investment ,FDI, flows into Nigeria.
“Nigeria is the United Kingdom’s second largest trading partner in Africa and its largest export market, and in February 2024, we signed something called the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership, which is about trying to make trade smoother between our two countries. It is the first of its kind that we have signed with an African country, and in fact it is the second globally, the first being with India. So, we certainly hope for the same sort of trajectory between us and Nigeria.
