…As he calls for vote for Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu
Honourable (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), in this no-hold-barred interview with ….in his office in Lagos, commends Fashola, speaks on delay in commissioning of the Second Niger Bridge, the chances of Tinubu in 2023 Presidential Election, Soludo/Peter Obi public altercations, among other national issues.
You are a member of the FHA Board, the minister of Works and Housing pledged to deliver the Second Niger Bridge by end of the year. We are in November, from look of things, there are still lots of work going on there. How would you explain the delay and slow pace of work to deliver the project on schedule?
Let me ask, someone was in a latrine, in the toilet, for several years, and you were given hope that you would be released in 10 months, before getting to that 10 months, you are now asking get me out of this place, the excreta is smelling too much, is it proper? You said December, we have not reached December, and you are asking me. Look the most important thing Nigerians and southeast should be happy is that Second Niger Bridge is now a reality. For me, I am not particular about the date. The most important thing is that the second Niger Bridge is there. Two days ago I was in the southeast, I took time to go there, I saw it; it gives me joy. Even if this government has not done any other thing for us in the southeast, that Second Niger Bridge is a signature project. Incidentally, I have said it time without number, in 2004 in the residence of Right Honourable Nnamdi Azikiwe, First President of this country, Buhari said, Chuma, my friend (i.e. Azikiwe’s son), if I become the president of this country I will renovate Azikiwe’s compound and I will build the Second Niger Bridge, and I am glad today that the man has kept his promise, and you are now talking about delay in the commissioning when the date has not reached.
And you see, he used another seasoned administrator, a lawyer, a Senior Advocate who applies the law in whatever he is doing, a politician of note, a workaholic minister, a gentleman to the core, who am I talking about? Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), that is the man Buhari used to deliver all those projects and others in the whole of this country. In short the man did the job in every geopolitical zone without tribal sentiment. I have made publications on this. It is in the public domain and nobody has refuted it. So what are we talking about? And people are saying all manner of things. I am not an Hausa man, I am not a Yoruba man, I am an Igboman and I remain Igbo, and anything about Igbo, and nobody will rubbish our Igbo race, but then we must say the truth, no doubt about that.
The same thing goes with Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and the East West Road in the South-South…
I have given you answer on the 2nd Niger Bridge, the same answer I am given you on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and East West Road. If there are delays, it is not a planned delay, it could be logistics, it could be security, it could be anything, but the most important thing is that those roads are being done. They were here all these years, nobody touched them, and the man is doing it now, you are now trying to stampede him, is it fair? You don’t have a cloth and somebody is sewing cloth for you, maybe for one reason or the other delayed or your material may not be enough, then you start harassing the tailor, is it fair? Those roads are there, they will be done; they will be commissioned. The other day when Fashola was defending his budget, he said we are concentrating on completing these projects, you heard him clear. That is enough reason for you to calm down, and allow him, allow the government to do what they supposed to do and do it very well. It is better you commission it beyond the date you had promised, because these things are proposals, it is better you do it very well and commission it beyond the date you had proposed than doing it haphazardly and commission it to meet your own expectation, no right thinking human being will do that. Allow the government to finish the road, and finish it very well before the commissioning.
Still on the road matter, Fashola appears gentle but he is indeed doing great job, while he was in Lagos too, his work showed who he is, what he did in Lagos is what he is doing at the national level, your thoughts.
It is just like talking about Asiwaju trying to do what he did in Lagos at the Federal level when he wins, it is the same thing. You know, Fashola was the Star Boy of Asiwaju’s Administration, he excelled. I want to give you an assignment, go and read the life of the man Fashola, he is specially created, and he read humanity, because I see law as part of that discipline. He knows when to cut his onion, he is not bragging, when he was in Lagos you don’t hear any siren, he would pass you, you would never know that it is him. So it is his background, it is his nature, and that is why every Nigerian loves him. And in politics he doesn’t talk anyhow. He faces his job. Periodically as a great political thinker, he comes out, say one or two things and goes back to do his work, to the trenches, planning on how to deliver, and he is delivering. He is a seasoned administrator.
Okay when he was here in Lagos, a building in Marina caved in, a skyscraper, everybody was worried, and with that his nature he went into his cubicle and started thinking, how do I bring down this building without wasting life, and before you know it, he brought an expert who imploded, not exploded, imploded the building, one of the greatest achievements of that man, and that is the work of a seasoned achiever, a great administrator, that is a work of a great political thinker, because he thought it deeply. If he had exploded the building and it escalates they would say this is not a good politician, this is not a good administrator, this is not a good lawyer. But he combined the three things, politics, administration and law to take down the building. He went further to reclaim all the under bridges in Lagos, he cleared all the roads, no holdup, look at Oshodi, the man cleared Oshodi. Originally you can’t pass through Oshodi, and he said you don’t block roads, people that were not doing anything he created LASMA and brought all of them, they are all working. I don’t know. If Tinubu is not in the race I would have recommended our party to get Fashola into the race. But thank God two of them are there. And I am still advocating, when Tinubu wins by the grace of God, Fashola should still remain I strongly advise, to be there very close to the presidency in order to give Nigerians what they need in order to add more colour to the leadership of Asiwaju.
Let’s talk about the performance of your presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now that he has flagged of his campaigns.
Thank you so much. Politics is good, politics is bad, depending on how you look at it. So many things come up when you want to serve, or when you present youself to serve, both those that like you and those that don’t like you, they come up with all manner of things, and that is what is happening to our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But my happiness is that he is used to those things, politics is all over him, he is a master strategist, he knows when to move and when to step back. In short, I used to describe him as a political colossus and giant, he is a very-very powerful political thinker. He is a human developer, and talent developer. If I start mentioning the names of Nigerians he made you will marvel. Of course you are a Nigerian, you know most of them. This is a man that put in his life on the line to oust the military, he went into exile, he came back, contested and won to govern Lagos State, changed the whole narrative, brought in experts from all over the world and Nigeria, surrounded Lagos Government House with experts, the Lagos story changed, money started flowing. From one state, Lagos, he started expanding and recovered the whole of southwest, they became virtually APC, ACN or AD as the case may be, because when you talk about AD, you talk about AC, you talk about ACN, you talk about APC; it is still Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And he relaxed, he did not want to make noise about those things, he never came on to say I want to contest, he sat back and watched the work he has done, he looked at the result, allowed those he made to triumph, and now we urged him to come and win it, if you have been able to control Lagos, change the whole narrative, instituted polices which the federal government has copied, we now want you to come and lead Nigeria, and you see people talking all manner of things which they didn’t say when he was governor. And look at it, he travelled abroad to rest, they started talking all manner of things, creating tension, some people said he has died, and I am glad that today, the City Boy is in the country. Now you watch what happened in Jos where the family of APC, gathered, all the APC governors, all the stakeholders, starting from the ward level to the national level.
Above all, the chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council, the revered President Muhammadu Buhari was there live, to tell Nigerians that the eagle has landed, that the man we are waiting for has come out to tell Nigerians what he has for them, and I give glory to God, and I believe with the special grace of God, no matter the odds, no matter the harassment, no matter the allegations, no matter the blackmail, by May 29, 2023, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jagaban of Africa, will be sworn in as the successor of President Muhammadu Buhari.
What are those things you think Asiwaju should do differently from the other presidential candidates?
To answer that question, I have answered it several times, now the manifesto is out, before you go I will give you the manifesto, it is about 80 pages, you go and digest it, the whole things are there.
What do you think Nigerians can do to ensure the election in 2023 is not fought and won on the basis of religion and ethnicity?
I don’t see the basis, our forefathers didn’t teach us that, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, MI Okpara, and even Mbazuruike Amaechi that died yesterday, they never thought us that and I don’t see us going this way. Politics is not about ethnicity or religion. I have addressed this issue, we are talking about capacity, experience, we are talking about intelligence. You might be a PhD holder but you cannot govern, you may be a pastor, a reverend father but you cannot govern. You can be an imam but you cannot govern. You can be an okada man and govern, a trader. And the politics we are doing now, I think the three major candidates, in one way or the other, have inclination in trading, I may be wrong, but that is the way I am seeing it. We are not talking about religion or ethnicity because if we depend on that we are not doing ourselves good. I advocate that whoever that is there should remember that the other person is your brother, remember the other person is your sister, if an Igbo man is there, let him remember that the Hausa man is part of this country, if a Yoruba is there, let him remember that the Igbo man is part of this country. If Hausa man is there, let him remember that the Yoruba man is part of this country. We are one and we try to remain as one, we try to remain united.
Your take on Sanwo-Olu’s Administration and his aspiration for second term in 2023
As we talk about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we are also talking about Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent Governor of Lagos State who has performed wonders, not minding obstacles he met, obstacles like Covid-19 that hit Lagos, EndSARS, he contained these things and never got discouraged, he continued his governance, he has keyed into the programme of Lagos State by making sure that the campaign promises are being met one after the other. Traffic is being controlled, even though he still has a lot of work, because hold up is still there, but not as it used to be, and that is why he is opening up every road, the major roads, the village roads, everywhere construction is going on. He has done a lot on the security, everybody is running back to Lagos, from Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, etc. everybody is running back to Lagos, and that has made the population of Lagos to explode beyond what it used to be, because Lagos is relatively safe.
How do we pay him back, I mean Sanwo-Olu?
The only way to pay him back is to first of all pray for him, because God is the finisher of all things. As we pray for him, we make sure we keep the laws of Lagos State, so as to reduce series of distractions that confront the governance, because when there are distractions, the leader cannot concentrate, so we have to obey the law, all laws of Lagos State must be obeyed. Then I am still insisting, as I addressed the 8th Assembly as I wrote in the print media then urging the 8th Assembly and equally the 9th Assembly to consider Lagos and give Lagos a Special Status in the budget. While that one is being expected, if they agree, I am calling on all Lagosians, no matter your tribe, to rally round this young governor and get him reelected for the second term, so that he will firm up in practical term and in excellence, the good work he is doing. Lagos is a mini-Nigeria, if Lagos fails, the whole country has failed, therefore, let everybody, all hands must be on deck to deliver him for second term.
On a final note, there is this war of words between Soludo, the Governor of Anambra and former Governor of the same state, and now the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Incidentally you are from Anambra and a Chieftain of a Political Party, APC, what is your advice to your two brothers.
Revered His Excellency Mr Gregory Onwubasi Obi, I have said this time without number, is my brother and he is my in-law, and I wouldn’t want anybody to rubbish him for whatever reason. Then our own revered Professor of Economics, Charles Chukwuma Nwangbafor Soludo from Aguata, my own Local Government, is the Governor of Anambra State. I wouldn’t want to discuss my two brothers on the pages of newspaper, I won’t do that. By doing that you are creating problem. And I don’t want to make any statement now until I am able to hear from them directly, but I want to caution people to note that Peter Obi was the governor of Anambra State, he knows the secret in the government House. Obiano succeeded him, Obiano knows the secret there, and now Soludo is there, he knows the secret. Three of them has more information than anybody talking on this issue. So until I am able to sit down with them one on one, I will hear from this one and hear from this, I will know what to say. I recommend that our leaders in Igbo land, if they invite me I will be there, they should sit down with two of them, there is a way we treat issues in Igbo land to Umunna level, let our leaders and Umunna, Umunna Ndigbo, to sit down with them. For me to come on the pages of newspaper and start attacking Soludo or Peter Obi, I won’t do that. However, I am appealing to them to play down, and I am appealing to Nigerians and Ndigbo to please play down, what will be will be. Governance and leadership is given by God, and we have our own different talents. God made it possible for Peter Obi to have ruled Anambra, God made it possible for Soludo to be in charge now, and what we need is to give them our prayers and maximum support where necessary, and correct them where necessary too. That is my take on that
As I conclude, I want people to know that Soludo is the Governor and should be accorded all respect and complement he deserves.
The redesigning of the currency by the Central Bank is receiving knocks from the masses, what is your take?
I think everything is being guided by the constitution and the fiscal policy, unfortunately I have not read the fiscal policy, so I am not so competent to talk about it, but all I know is that every country periodically redesigns their money. If they are doing it in line with the fiscal policy and the constitution, I can’t say no, I don’t think it is something that should keep on bothering us. What should bother us in this country now is the rate of insecurity, and the rest of them. That they are redesigning the Naira should not bother us so far they are doing it in line with the fiscal policy, it is okay.
