Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina), a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), in this interview with CYRIACUS NNAJI in Lagos, spoke about the Southeast Zone of the country, the perception of the party in the east, APC love for the zone, and finally summarizing by marshalling out the developmental strides of APC Government in the zone. Excerpt:
There appears to be an entrenched hatred for the APC Government by the people of southeast of Nigeria, what do you think are the problems?
I don’t think there is any hatred. People make choices, and when it comes to party politics which is merely a process for choosing those to occupy elective positions, everybody, every organization has right to choose who govern them, but in the end it is only one person for each position, and when such exercise is completed, the elected becomes responsible for governance of his jurisdiction or constituency. So the elected must see his duty beyond party once elected, he governs his people without discrimination, without bias and without looking at who voted for him or who did not vote for him, and that is what APC government is doing in Nigeria, the Southeast inclusive.
President Muhammadu Buhari appears to be impressed with the performance and developmental strides in the APC governed states, are you also impressed?
I don’t think it is right for me to begin to narrate the good works of the Governors here, however in one of President Buhari’s visits to one of the APC governed states, after assessing the massive infrastructure development in that state, shook his head in wonderment and said to the governor: ‘You have written your own history’
The APC has done well in the area of infrastructure and I don’t think any person no matter the political leaning, would have the guts to say that APC is not doing well in the area of Infrastructure as can be seen in the entire six geo-political zones without minding if they vote for the party or not, because it is no more a party issue, but governance issue.
Do you think there is likely going to be a shift in the voting pattern by the people of the Southeast come 2023?
There is no doubt about that. Remember that APC now controls two out of the five states in the Southeast, Imo and Ebonyi, so there is no way the good works being done by the two governors will not influence the results of the election in 2023 in favour of my party. Our people have seen, aside what the president is doing at the national level, the projects being executed by the two governors are all exemplary and our people in the other states of the zone will definitely like those signature projects to be replicated in their own states via the APC platform.
President Muhammadu Buhari is a Hausa/Fulani and the Minister of Works and Housing is a Yoruba, but they appear to have done what those in previous government couldn’t do even though some of them were from the southeast region.
You see I don’t normally discuss tribe when I am talking about politics, but sometimes it is necessary in terms of drawing a positive lesson in certain situations just as the question you asked. You see, that is part of the irony of Nigerian existence. Muhammadu Buhari from the North appointed Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) from the West to oversee the Works and Housing Ministries, and you see him doing the work without tribal considerations, and the President, on the other hand, also gave him free hand to do his work. What I advise the tribes is to synergise. Only the best should go for us. Those who were appointed in the last dispensation who were predominantly of southeast extraction, what did they do? History will definitely be kind to the duo of Buhari and Fashola. I am sure of that.
People are saying many roads are still bad in the southeast, but you are saying that the government has done a lot in this regard. Where are the roads?
The APC government has done incredulously well in the southeast, if we must go by the ratio of votes from each region. I think APC loves the region. Let us be more practical now, look at the 2nd Niger Bridge at Asaba/Onitsha. By the end of 2021, more than 60 Federal road and Bridge projects, across the five South East states are ongoing, completed or at various stages of progress and completion; financed through SUKUK Bond and other deliberately designed funding mechanisms.
Look at what I have here: Sections 1 to 4 of the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway was done by this government; Construction of Ihiala – Orlu Road in Isseke Town – Amafuo – Ulli with Spur (Ihiala – Orlu – Umuduru Section) in Anambra State all in Anambra State. There is the rehabilitation of Oba – Nnewi – Okigwe Road Route Section II: Anambra/Imo states border – Ibinta – Okigwe Road; there is the Construction of Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State.
We also have the rehabilitation of Old Enugu – Port-Harcourt Road (Agbogugu – Abia border Spur to Mmaku); rehabilitation of Nsukka – Obollo – Ikem – Ehamufu – Nkalagu Road in Enugu State; rehabilitation of Owerri – Umuahia Road Sections I, II & III spanning Imo & Abia states; rehabilitation of Bende – Arochukwu – Ohafia Road Section I in Abia State; Rehabilitation of Abakaliki – Afikpo Road sections I and II in Ebonyi State; and there is also the rehabilitation of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. Should I go on? These are verifiable landmark projects.
But the government seems to be puting more efforts on roads, what do you say about that claim?
I don’t agree with you. Look at the re-construction of Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Rail Line, linking the South Eastern states to a planned new Sea Port in Bonny and to Northern Nigeria which is ongoing. There is the 2.8MW Solar Power Plant at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State under the Energizing Education Programme (EEP). The Ariaria International Market (Aba) Independent Power Plant supplying electricity to 4,000 shops in the market under the Energizing Economies Initiative (EEI). There is the brand new $5.5m Medical Diagnostics Center in Federal Medical Center (FMC) Umuahia under the NSIA Healthcare Investments. (Completed and Operational).
Approval has been given for new Air Force Base in Owerri and Naval Base in Oguta, both in Imo State. What of the revitalization of the moribund Fertilizer Blending Plant in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State which now supplies NPK Fertilizer to farmers in the state and beyond under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI)?
It is really massive. There is the Financial Close on the ANOH Gas Processing Plant, with a processing capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet of gas and 1,200MW of electricity generation potential, in Imo State which is a Joint Venture between Seplat Petroleum Development Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Limited).
Of course, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the investment of $10 million by the Federal Government into the Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo State, with a production capacity of 270 million liters of petrol annually. First phase was commissioned by President Buhari in 2020. Besides, Imo State was selected as one of 7 pilot states for the Special-Agro Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, which is a $500m partnership between the FGN, AfDB Group and other stakeholders including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bank of Industry, with the goal of establishing modern agro-processing centres across the country.
Chief you appear to have a lot to say on this issue of infrastructure
Yes because those are the things the people use in judging a government as if other things don’t count. The government also approved the establishment of a new College of Education in Isu, Ebonyi State; a new Federal Polytechnic in Ohodo, Enugu State; and a new Federal Science & Technical College (FSTC) in Amuzu, Ebonyi State.
Now the Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri is to be upgraded to a Federal University of Education while the Federal Medical Centre Owerri also in Imo State is to be upgraded to a Teaching Hospital to serve the Federal University of Technology Owerri (medical school)
The committed implementation of the Automotive Policy of the Federal Government under President Buhari has helped support the revival of the old Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMMCO Limited) factory in Enugu State. Since 2016 the revived factory has assembled more than 4,000 trucks, valued at tens of billions of Naira.
The government has also done a lot in the area of power even though we have incessant collapse of the national grid
Well things like that always occur, but the issue is when they occur, what is your response mechanism? You can see that the government always respond swiftly and responsively. In Power and electricity generation the following have been completed: A new 120MVA 132/33kV Substation in Awka, Anambra State that will deliver an additional 70MW of electricity capacity; installation and commissioning of 2Nos 132kV circuit breaker at Abakaliki Transmission Substation (T/S); installation of 33Kv Nnewi Industrial CB at Onitsha T/S, Anambra State; construction of a new 33kV IGI Feeder at Aba 132KV T/S, Abia State; Energising of the 1X40MVA Substation at Nsukka, Enugu State.
Installation of a 60MVA Transformer at GCM, Onitsha, Anambra State, another 60MVA Transformer in Aba, Abia State; and 2X60MVA Transformers in New Haven, Enugu in Enugu State.
Completion of installation and commissioning into service of a brand new 300MVA 330/132/33kV power transformer in the Alaoji Transmission Substation, increasing the station’s installed capacity from 450MVA to 750MVA; making it the biggest substation in Southern Nigeria which has boosted supply to Enugu Distribution Company (EDC); benefiting Abia North (Ohafia, Arochukwu, Item, Abriba), Imo State (Okigwe, Arondizuogu), and parts of Ebonyi and Rivers states.
There is the construction of 2x60MVA Substation in Amasiri and a 150MVA 330/132kV Substation in Abakaliki, both in Ebonyi State; Construction of a 2x60MVA transmission substation in Ogbunike/Ogidi communities of Anambra State; Completion in 2016 (after ten years of stalled construction) of a 330kV Switching Station (and associated Double Circuit lines) in Essien Udim/Ikot Ekpene local government area (LGA) of Awka Ibom State, to serve the South East and North Central Nigeria. The Switching Station wheels power from 4 power plants into the National grid at Ugwuaji, in Enugu State and onwards to other parts of the country.
The government ensured payment, in 2017, of Pension arrears to police officers who were granted Presidential pardon in 2000 after serving in the former Biafran Police during the Nigerian Civil War. These officers, and their next of kin, waited for their pensions for 17 years since the Presidential pardon. No other administration deemed it fit to clear the backlog.
Completion and Commissioning in 2018 of the Zik Mausoleum in Awka, Anambra State, 22 years after construction started; there is also the Partnership between the Nigerian Army and Innoson Motors, for the local production, modification and repair of armored fighting vehicles and other military hardware.
Ongoing deployment of the Federal Government’s Electric Vehicle Pilot Project, spearheaded by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State.
Under the Buhari Administration’s National MSME programme, the completion of an MSMEs Shared Facility at the Ogbunike Leather Trading Cluster, in Anambra State; Completion of Adada Dam in Enugu State and Amauzari Earth Dam, Imo State; and Completion of the Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project in Imo State; Ofeme Water Supply Project in Abia State; and Uburu Water Supply Scheme in Ebonyi State.
There is the Development of Nigeria’s Eastern Ports, to decongest Lagos and to better serve the population in the South East and South South of the country. The Calabar, Rivers, and Onne Ports have witnessed significant infrastructure upgrades and fiscal incentives to promote their attractiveness. An LPG tanker berthed in the Eastern Ports (Rivers Port) for the first time ever in October 2019. That year Onne Port also received its first container ship in twelve years, while Calabar Port received its first container vessels in eleven years.
And the last but not the least and very important too, is the successful concession of Onitsha Inland River Port for a 30 year period to Universal Elysium Consortium Ltd in July 2022.
So you are saying that the APC Government has done well for the southeast
Yes, I am saying it because I have evidence to show that the government has done well for the zone more than the 16 years of PDP, when our best eleven were in juicy, inner cabinet positions, thank God APC came and gave us better governance.
