…Says Lagos should be given special status
Chief Modestus Umenzekwe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in this interview, CYRIACUS NNAJI in Lagos, maintains that infrastructure is the major selling point of the ruling party (APC) and Nigerians should retain the party with massive votes in 2023.
You are a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and at the same time a member, Board of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Now do you agree that infrastructure, especially Works and Housing, is the life-wire of every economy, and in what ways do you think the APC led Government has indeed tried to actualize claim?
You see, you pressmen normally bump into people unprepared, I didn’t know that you people are coming to see me today, of course I would have gotten prepared for this interview, but in any case, I will tell you the much I know for now, because I am not prepared.
Indeed you have said it all, Works and Housing are the life-wire of any economy in the whole world and Nigeria is not an exception. Despite all the criticisms here and there, Nigeria has fared very well in the area of infrastructure. That is not to say they have not done well in other areas, they have done credibly well. Even the security people are talking about, they are trying, but you know, insecurity is a global problem. When you listen to what is happening in different countries, it is the same thing as we have it here. So it is what we are going to involve the whole world like the president said, including you asking me questions now, and myself talking to you. So it is not an easy something, because you are fighting people you don’t know where they are; some you know, some you don’t know, even the person behind you may not know. So it is like guerilla warfare, and the government is trying her best, in as much as that best is not yet enough to quench the magnitude of security problem we have; but that doesn’t mean you are going to score them zero. Any person scoring them zero is mischievous and is economical with the truth, it is an unnecessary blackmail. But I have to urge them to step up so that we can sleep with our two eyes closed.
Now coming to what you are talking about, you know I digressed a bit, but it is necessary. Infrastructure is the life-wire of any nation, because it is only when you have shelter that you can talk about settling your family, and going out for your daily businesses; if you don’t have a shelter you can’t stay anywhere, you can’t stay under the rain, even umbrella cannot save you. So you must have shelter, you must have affordable house, luxury house as the case may be, depending on your pocket. Then if you have house, and there is no road for you to move, there is nothing you can do about it. So these two things are very germane in any economy. Agricultural products in the rural areas cannot be brought to the urban areas for sale if there is no road and if there are no markets where people can gather under a shelter to negotiate their transactions we can’t move further, so these two things are very important. And I want to tell you and I make bold to say, with every sense of responsibility that the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the revered Muhammadu Buhari, has done well in Works and Housing using, you see in those days they called him the Star Boy of Tinubus’s Administration, the Star Boy is who? The only and recognized Minister of Works and Housing, formerly the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, His Excellency Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). This is a man that Tinubu appointed, if I am not mistaking, at the age of 39 as the Chief of Staff and he performed creditably well. His record speaks volume, a man with indelible landmark and signature achievements; he is a noiseless achiever, he is a trail blazer, very neat, very decisive, very disciplined, even though he is a lawyer, but you see him handling the work of Engineers, the work of Building Technologists. You see roads being reconstructed, being developed all over the country. For you to have somebody that is handling over 524 roads at the same time, financing them, supervising them, in the northwest, northeast, north central, southeast, south-south and southwest at the same time, and you see him visiting all of them simultaneously, I think, with that, our flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and our great party APC are very comfortable to go into this election and win convincingly.
Talk about housing, Fashola made sure that housing projects get to all the six geopolitical zones, some are being funded by the federal government, some by the federal ministry of works, some by the federal housing authority, where he has even selected credible men to be on the board led by Senator Lawal Shuibu, the perfect gentleman, while the Federal Housing Authority is being headed by Senator Gbenga Ashafa. So these two gentlemen have worked assiduously with the minister to make sure that there are housing development in the six geopolitical zones without tribal sentiments.
Take for instance, in the southeast, our economy is going to improve with the construction of the Second Niger Bridge. Yes, you know when we were in school they used to say and it remains a fact that Onitsha Main Market is the largest and busiest market in West Africa. So with the construction of the Second Niger Bridge the southeast, and Onitsha will have another lift. The economy will improve, the bottlenecks being witnessed will be no more there, by December or before December the Second Niger Bridge will be commissioned, and you know in the southeast, you see farmers there, you see businessmen there, all manner of professions are found in the zone. It gives us joy. Whenever we look round and see that Second Niger Bridge we remember Fashola, we remember Buhari, we remember APC Government, which past administrations never did. Never mind all these little, little issues here and there, one must not be perfect, one must not be 100% otherwise you claim to be God. I believe in the next eight months or nine months or thereabout the government will come back again because we will be at the Eagle Square to swear in our Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Successor to Muhammadu Buhari, and I pray it shall come to pass, amen.
So chief what you are telling us today is that infrastructure development of the country by APC is their major selling point in the forthcoming 2023 election?
It is number one selling point and all other areas. Infrastructure delivery will make way for APC in 2023. Look at the rail sector, for the first time we are talking about transportation by rail, it is a major breakthrough, have you visited the Lagos rail station at Ebute Metta? You need to go there and see what APC Government did there. That time they said Buhari was not talking to people, and he appeared and commissioned it; then the enemies have gone to attack the rail stations to discredit the party, but God will never allow that to happen. There are so many things done by this administration and the opposition is there talking about one thing or the other, what they never did in their 16 years of rulership, we have done that and we are still doing more, we would keep working until 29th May, 2023 when we will hand over to another person, so it is a continuous success, that is what we are going to witness.
2023, you are too optimistic that APC is coming back to power, are you saying the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing should still oversee those ministries?
Well I am not the incoming president, it is only Asiwaju, the incoming president that can decide, but if I am in the position to advise him, I will tell him, the Excellency, retain Fashola in that position. If I am to advise him, and I am advising him now as a party man, as a Chieftain of the party, as somebody who has never changed party, I remain in APC just like Fashola has remained in APC, he has never changed, you can’t see him running from PDP to APGA, from APGA to Labour, from Labour to God knows where, jumping from pillar to post. He has remained there, very party loyal man who knows what to do, and when to cut his onions, so I am pleading because I believe and I am optimistic that we are going to win. When the president comes in let him retain Fashola in that position, it will go a long way to open up the economy of this country, he has the knowledge, the foresight, he is coolheaded, he has listening ears, he is not arrogant, he is very humble, so his humility, his honesty, in fact his track record speaks volume. He is a giant politician, he is a giant achiever, he is a giant teacher, he is a giant lawyer; to sum it up Fashola is giant in all things.
Yes people give kudos to your party for infrastructural milestones, but what do you think can be done to bring cost of building materials down, those on the lower strata of the society find it difficult to build houses of their own?
Hold on, have you ever gone to Britain? Other parts of the world and price building materials, have you done that? You need to go round. The problem of inflation or skyrocketing prices of goods and services is not only in Nigeria. The Federal Government is trying her best to fight to bring it down but it is a global something, but you see in this country everybody keep talking as if government is comfortable that prices are high, no, they are not comfortable, not only building materials but every item, the cooking gas, petrol, whatever. Yes, they are high but government is doing their best, even in Britain where we copied part of our lifestyle, you see crisis going on there, go to America, go to France, go to Spain, it is all over the world. Look at these people jumping up and down this time, I will do this, I will do that, they have nothing to put on the table, they have nothing to offer. The time APC came into this government we were on the floor, completely on the floor on everything, everything you can think of was flat. We were in recession, the government brought us out of recession, and if you want to tell yourself the truth, you will see it is not our problem alone, it is a global thing, and every country is trying her best to make sure that the situation is arrested.
We noticed that the more the roads are being constructed or rehabilitated, the more others are getting bad, especially in Lagos, is it because of the nature of the soil or quality materials are not used?
Yes I notice that too, in short I pity Lagos State. It is not that government is not doing the work very well, far from it. Any road done in Lagos is done very well, but you see, the pressure Lagos roads are getting is enormous, and that is why I said and I proposed, during the 8th Assembly and this 9th Assembly, I wrote it then very clearly, it is in the newspapers, that Lagos should be given a special status in the budget of the country because it is the mini Nigeria. Fortunately, one of the Senators representing Lagos, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the incoming First Lady, made a proposal to that effect, but they sat on it. I have written two articles supporting that motion that Lagos should be given special status in the budget, only God knows what happened. I am not a Yoruba, I am from Anambra, but Lagos has given a lot of people soft-landing. So the population, the number of vehicles plying Lagos roads with load is enormous. So they are finding it difficult to maintain all the roads at the same time, in as much as people assume that Lagos is so rich, but the Federal Government should have a special portion of the budget to support Lagos because Lagos is catering for every part of the country. If Lagos collapses, the country has collapsed, but if Lagos stands the country will stand.
A city housing over 25million people, if I am not mistaking, is not a small thing. And you see, all those people in the National Assembly, weekends or thereabout, you see them coming to Lagos, Lagos is their base, some of them grew up in Lagos, some started their lives in Lagos, some of them make their money in Lagos, now why can’t they give Lagos a special status? And I am calling on the Governor of Lagos to please step up this issue of making sure that Lagos is given special status, I think he can do that, to mount much pressure on the National Assembly because the Federal Executive Council cannot do that without the National Assembly approving it. So let them go back to the proposal made by Oluremi Tinubu in the 8th Assembly and the 9th Assembly to give Lagos Special Status so that some of these things can stop.
Your message to Nigerians, message of hope, message of goodwill.
As usual, my message has been, let us live in peace, not in pieces, let us love one another, ethnicity should not divide us, religion should not divide us, God knows that we belong to different tribes and religions, and God in His omniscience created us as Nigerians, so we must look unto God in whatever we are doing. There is no difference between an Igbo man and a Yoruba man; there is no difference between Hausa man and Igbo man, et cetera. And that is why the first international hotel in Kano and Borno were built by an Igboman. My good friend Chief Joseph Ikedobi of blessed memory, was the first Igbo man to travel back to the North after the war, so why can’t we live in peace? I am preaching peace in the morning, afternoon and night. So I appeal to Nigerians, yes, let us know where we got it wrong, sit down and correct the mistakes.
