By Dr. Ekwe Okwudiri Chris
It is extremely important we start this article by explaining in clear terms that a lawmaker has no business building schools or roads. However, they could attract them. The core mandates of a lawmaker are:
i) Lawmaking
ii) Oversight
iii) Representation.
Having established this, let’s look at the two-year journey of a young, dynamic lawmaker who is changing the legislative landscape in Nigeria.
On the 25th of February, 2023, the good people of Enugu North and South Federal Constituency, Enugu State, engaged in an unyielding revolution that saw the election of a young revolutionary who is rooted in the ideals of unrelenting community service. That day, the young, the old, men and women of tall convictions came out en masse to elect hope over fear, voice over silence, and purpose over pride. Together, they altered the dimming story of Enugu North and South Federal Constituency forever. It was young, dynamic Chimaobi Sam Atu or nothing. In the early hours of 27th February, the Returning Officer announced Hon. Chimaobi Atu the winner of that historic election.
What was very clear during the campaigns was the absence of the normal politicians’ traits in him: simple, approachable, unassuming, and blunt. It appears he was not given to usual political rhetoric and photo-ops. His posture tells a story of a young man from a decent background who didn’t like Nigeria’s brand of politics. He just wanted to serve his people in the most modest way he could.
Come 13th of June, 2023, Hon. Chimaobi Sam Atu was sworn in alongside 359 other members. He didn’t throw a party nor engage in a shopping spree; rather, he was busy preparing a motion that would affect the lives of not just his constituents but the people of the entire South Eastern Nigeria who ply the Ugwuonyeama section of the Enugu–Onitsha expressway. This motion turned out to be the first motion moved by a new lawmaker on the first legislative day of the current 10th National Assembly.
Hon. Atu went on to present 16 quality bills and many more motions in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly within the first year.
Some of the bills include:
Federal Medical Centre Establishment Bill, Ugwuaji
Federal College of Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition Establishment Bill, Enugu
Nigerian Military Academy Establishment Bill, 2023
Nigerian Coal Commission, Enugu Establishment Bill, 2023
Erosion Prevention and Control Commission Establishment Bill
Nigerian Football Academy Establishment Bill, 2023
Solid Mineral and Mining Amendment Bill, 2023
Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Amendment Bill, 2023
National Emergency Management Agency Act Amendment Bill, 2023
National Directorate of Employment Amendment Bill, 2023
Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery, Ugwuaji Establishment Bill
Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Amendment Bill
Nigeria Health Equipment Credit Guarantee Funds Bill
1999 Constitutional Amendment Bill on Local Government
South East Commission Establishment Bill
Chartered Institute of Diplomacy and Management Establishment Bill, 2025
Of the 16 bills, two are quite significant: the Coal Commission Establishment Bill and the Federal Medical Centre Bill.
As the Chairman of the Nigeria–Greece Parliamentary Friendship Group, Hon. Atu has led the charge in changing the course of legislation at the international stage. Recently, he was part of the delegation that visited the United States Congress and the United Nations as part of broader efforts to strengthen key legislations on human rights and the protection of women and children. Chimaobi Sam Atu is also a member of many standing and statutory committees at the National Assembly.
On infrastructure, Rt. Hon. Atu believes strongly that federal lawmakers could attract visible capital projects to their constituencies. This may explain why he started the massive installation of solar street lights in many critical locations a few days after he was sworn in. Checks will reveal that he has installed solar street lights at Coal Camp, Akwuke, New Haven, Ugwuaji, Amechi, Iva Valley, Uwani, Ndiagu Amechi, Obeagu, New Market, Agbani Road, Achara Layout, Maryland Estate, and Monarch Avenue. The solar lights have equally been extended to many police and military formations within Enugu North and South Federal Constituency. Worship centres are not left out. For Hon. Atu, the goal is to lighten up Enugu for businesses that thrive at night and to make it difficult for people to commit crimes in certain locations.
In a bid to open some terrains, the City Rep graded some rural and semi-urban roads in Obeagu, Maryland–Monarch Avenue, and Ugwuaji community. Nine months after this, he commenced the construction of the Ugwuaji–Eke Market–Obeagu Afor Market chain of roads and the Ndafuafa–Obeagu link road. Dual drainage systems and earthworks have been completed on both roads. Asphalting will commence in July 2025.
While physical infrastructure is important in the life of every nation, Chimaobi Atu has an unyielding belief that human capital development should always take centre stage. He maintains strongly that this remains his number one priority.
To demonstrate his unwavering commitment in this area, the first thing he did was go around the 28 public secondary schools in his constituency to offer emergency WAEC/NECO and school fees scholarships to many indigents but intelligent students whose parents could not pay for these important exams. From Urban Girls Secondary School to Uwani Boys to Ugwuaji Community School, fears of not participating in the exams gave way to hope. At the end of this process in the 2023/2024 academic session, over 120 students benefited from this noble gesture.
Through the Chimaobi Sam Atu Foundation (C-SAF), some students whose JAMB fees were paid secured full university scholarships. Some of such beneficiaries include Miss Perpetual Nnam, who is studying Pharmacy at Enugu State University of Science and Technology; Miss Elizabeth Ada Christopher, a first-year student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Miss Egbo Chiamaka, and many others. Miss Nnam shared a heartbreaking story of how she had lost her father and her struggling mother couldn’t have been able to pay her school fees and other charges in the University.
As parents and teachers were celebrating this commitment to public education, the Chimaobi Sam Atu Foundation launched the 2024/2025 WAEC/NECO and university scholarships. This was the second in quick succession. This time, one thousand eight hundred students in 28 public schools, including the Special School for the Deaf, Coal Camp, Enugu, sat for a scholarship examination. The results were quite revealing. In the end, 250 students had their WAEC/NECO fees and other charges paid in full by the foundation.
Another intervention in public education was when Hon. Atu, through C-SAF, launched a campaign to increase the number of Enugu State indigenes in unity schools across the country. Many pupils from nine public primary schools benefited from scholarships into unity schools in Nigeria. For Chimaobi, we can’t afford to fail these young people.
Given the terrible sights of what we call science laboratories, Hon. Atu recently took delivery of smart mobile laboratory equipment. These state-of-the-art pieces of equipment will be installed in some public secondary schools within the next few days. Currently, three pilot secondary school science labs are under serious renovation for the installation of the mobile smart labs. The schools are Day Secondary School Enugu, Comprehensive Secondary School Akwuke, and Community Secondary School Ugwuaji.
As a young man who attended the prestigious Special Science School Ihe and studied Industrial Chemistry at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), the issue of promoting comprehensive science education is not politics; it is personal.
In July 2024, in line with his campaign promise to rebuild some public schools, Hon. Atu commenced the reconstruction of the lone classroom block at Coal Camp Primary School, Ogbete, Enugu. Three months later, a block of six classrooms was built and furnished. The reconstructed school, first built in 1926 by the colonial government, had suffered more than seventy years of complete neglect. For the pupils, it was a deep joy returning to a new classroom after years of dashed hopes.
In May 2024, Hon. Atu and his partners from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Synergy Fields Ltd organized a five-day training and empowerment programme where 159 SS2/SS3 students and fresh school leavers in Enugu North and South were trained on the production and marketing of chemical products. At the end of the training, each participant got a startup capital of not less than ₦50,000 and startup materials/chemicals worth over ₦150,000. He didn’t stop there; his team is monitoring the progress of those empowered every day, and the results have been amazing.
While we all thought Hon. Atu was done with massive youth programmes in 2024, he had something more mega cooking. In November 2024, he once again brought in partners from the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to train and empower over 100 young men and women on solar energy installations, servicing, and marketing. Since the world was turning its attention to renewable energy, Atu Enugu and his hardworking team insisted that smart solar solutions could fix energy poverty in Africa and grow local businesses. When the dust of the training settled, over 100 young persons were certified solar installers with startup packs and finance to play actively in the energy sector.
When it comes to the health of the people, Atu Enugu holds strongly the idea of building a society where everyone should have access to affordable healthcare. In response to growing complaints from senior citizens who are suffering in silence due to lack of resources or caregivers, Atu Enugu, in April 2025, took free and comprehensive medical outreach to them. From Obeagu to Iva Valley, to Ugwuaji and Akwuke, the hope of comprehensive, free medical solutions came to their doors. Hopes rose in tears, and tired hands were attended to for free. The Chimaobi Sam Foundation, in partnership with Mercy Hours Foundation, made sure over 1,000 people had unflinching access.
To promote healthy relationships among young people and harvest raw talents, the Chimaobi Sam Atu Foundation organized an Under-15 football tournament in Enugu. Sixteen teams participated, and Adoration FC won the competition. This team would later represent Enugu State and Nigeria at the National Under-15 Games in Abuja and the Continental Football Championship in Togo. Interestingly, some of the key players have started playing for the junior national team.
Farmers in rural areas were not left out of Hon. Atu’s massive interventions in many critical areas. Fertilizers and other farm implements have been distributed to farmers. This, no doubt, contributes to food security in the country. However, to alleviate the immediate food crisis in the country, over 2,500 bags of rice were shared during Christmas, Easter, and Salah celebrations. Like it is often said, stomach infrastructure is as critical as physical development.
Unarguably, these projects and interventions are in the public space and could be verified. For Hon. Chimaobi Sam Atu, power must always be used for the public good.
As an Ozo titleholder and strong believer in Igbo culture and traditions, life is about what you can fix, not what could be destroyed.
As he enters the last phase of his first tenure at the National Assembly, one can simply ask, “If it is not broken, why change it?”
Congratulations, Atu Enugu
