President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Adem Industrial &Commercial Complex, Coker, Lagos State, Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Ona Achina) has stated that leadership is given by God.
Umenzekwe was speaking in his office when the Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor visited the Market on Friday, January 27, 2023, in continuation of his grassroots, door-to-door campaign.
Umenzekwe said “You see leadership is given by God, that we campaign from here to Jericho, from Jericho to Jerusalem, it is God that will definitely say, this person will be the governor; and if we have that at the back of our mind, the sky is our limit.”
Umenzekwe who described Lagos as a mini-Nigeria, spoke on a wide range of issues including his call for special status for Lagos in the national budget ‘This period is a very tough period in the country and in Lagos State. I keep saying that Lagos is a mini Nigeria, I have written on it, I have said it and I am repeating it again, and anybody that is capable of handling Lagos is capable of handling Nigeria, and we are happy to have a young man like us aspiring to be a governor of Lagos State.”
He thanked Lagosians for being good hosts to visitors. “I must confess that in as much as it is not a bed of roses, but I must congratulate every indigene of Lagos State for what they have done for visitors, every indigene of Lagos State, I must congratulate all of you, because Lagos is a state that accommodates everybody, this is a state you come and do your business, this is a state you come with nothing and you are going with something.
“This is a place most of us buy land, build without undue harassment or whatsoever. Apart from whoever that may be governor, if Lagosians are hostile to us, you know it will not be possible, and that is why I have written and appealing to the national assembly to please, give Lagos State Government a special status in the budget. In a place where you have a population of over 20 to 25million the pressure is much, traffic pressure, human pressure and all that, so Lagos State deserves a special status in this country, if Lagos collapses, this country has collapsed, whether you like it or not,” Umenzekwe stated.
Umenzekwe who praised the current government of Lagos stated that the major problem confronting the commercial complex is the issue of area boys, “It is not all that bed of roses, even though the government of the day is trying, but we still have some challenges, issue of area boys is a problem which we must fight headlong, once we are able to stop the activities of criminals to the barest minimum, have a better business environment, the sky is our limit.”
Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) commended the Igbos for being the goose that lay the golden egg of the economy of Lagos and that they deserve better treatment, saying that the government of PDP will do better.
He said that even though Lagos accommodates visitors, the same Lagos has not done enough, adding that the current status of Lagos as the richest state in Nigeria would not be possible without the contribution of Ndigbo in Lagos. “We thank you for thanking us we Lagosians for accommodating you. Yes the narrative is that we are very accommodating, but we still believe that all the harassment that happen to your market in Lagos, in Alaba, in Ladipo, in ASPMDA, everywhere shouldn’t be so because the contribution you make to our economy via all these markets, the status we currently have as the richest state in Nigeria would not happen.
We believe we have not done enough and that is what we are coming to correct if we come to power.
“I know that even as an Igbo man if you decide to take all these your wealth or contributions to your state, that is where the market would go, people are coming here because they know you are here. So we must protect that, we must protect you because you are like the goose that lays the golden egg,” Adediran stated.
He continued “You see, for too long, I am sure our government has seen you as second class citizens in this Lagos, but we assure you that we will get it right if we are voted into power. We know that you want a Lagos that your children will be seen as one of us, a Lagos nobody would say Omo Igbo Oshi, a Lagos that nobody would not allow you to exercise your franchise, a Lagos nobody will tell you that there is no PVC because you are an Igbo, that is the Lagos that you want and that is the Lagos we are bringing if we come into power. We will do better and I want to apologise on behalf of the government of the day because I know they have not done well the way they are treating you.”
Jandor maintained that there is every need to protect the Igbos in Lagos because they are very enterprising people “If you are running an economy you look at places where the money is coming from and what they need to do, is to protect those places, you make sure you give them facilities that will make their business to continue to thrive, but are we seeing that in Alaba and other markets where the Igbos do their businesses? When the containers are coming in, I am from Ojo Local Government, I know what the business people face that place.
“As I was coming to the market I saw my people loading and offloading, that is you creating jobs, so if I frustrate you or Igbo people I have taken away this source of livelihood from my brothers, even as little as they think you are given them, and this is something that is playing out in our state here.”
He said it is one of the reasons he wants to go round and meet the real people, because they wear the shoe and they know where it is pinching them.
Adem Industrial and Commercial Complex leaders who were present during the visit include the General Secretary, Mr Chukwuemeka Nzekwe; the Public Relations Officer, Mr Raymond Eze; Assistant Secretary, Mr Innocent Eze; the Acting Chairman, Security, Nze Augustine Umenzekwe; the Taskforce Chairman, Alhaji Hakeem Lawal; and an Executive Member, Chief Felix Ezenwakpadolu.
