Ugwuanyi And The Potency Of Diplomatic Governance

By Nwobodo Chidiebere

“Constructive diplomacy doesn’t mean relinquishing one’s right. It means engaging with one’s counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.”

           --Hassan Rouhani

In a democratic system of governance like ours, strategic diplomacy has been adjudged, tested and trusted as the best approach to finding lasting remedies to burning issues of governance. Great and age-long results have been made possible through constructive engagement and dialogue with relevant stakeholders than by the use of dictatorial methodology.

Gov Ugwuanyi

The developed democracies of the world like America and Great Britain have elevated potency of diplomacy cum diplomatic skills in managing public affairs issues to its rightful place. The advancement of democracy and its culminating effects on the development of these countries cannot be detached from the values they placed on diplomacy—which is the sturdy foundation of democratic governance setting benchmark to our contemporary world.

In fact, America for instance, rate and evaluate its presidential hopefuls on their diplomatic capacities more than other qualities, because American President will not run White House alone, but from time to time dialogue with congressmen and women, business tycoons in Wall Street, ICT magnates in Silicon Valley and other relevant stakeholders before major economic or socio-political policies are introduced and allowed to scale through the congress.

Since the advent of democracy in 1999, Enugu State has never witnessed a thorough democratic system of governance—where an incumbent governor will long to consult and interface with genuine stakeholders and iron-out grey edges before arriving at a consensus, in implementation of polices of his administration. There is no doubt that His Excellency Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has not only redefined standard of stakeholders and community engagements in the Coal City via dialogue and diplomacy, but rewritten political template of Eastern hub; used previously by his predecessors in the art of governance. 

Before now, Enugu State had executive governors who operated like demi-gods, called the shots and determined who-gets-what without consultations with critical stakeholders and opinion moulders. They never bothered or alluded to overriding interests of Enugu people, provided they were in absolute control of the state government apparatus. Erstwhile governors of the state were feared more than respected. They propagated and enforced political ideology of absoluteness of power—which was averse to fundamentals of 21^st century democracy.