If you aren’t satisfied with Tinubu, wait till 2027, don’t call for military coup, Umenzekwe tells Nigerians
Honourable (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe, an APC Chieftain, in this interview in Lagos, speaks on some critical national issues including the call for military coup, the controversy surrounding Senator Ningi’s claim of a padded National Budget and strategies being deployed by APC to win Anambra State in the 2025 Gubernatorial Election. Excerpt:
We want to know if politics in Nigeria is actually growing or is it a case of diminishing return, bearing in mind that politics should be for the good of the people
I will say that we are growing, in the sense that the way our forefathers played politics is not the way we are doing it now. The way they did campaign is not what we are doing now at least one can seek redress in the court now in order for one to reclaim one’s mandate. Political rallies are more like carnivals, so there are a lot of changes from what used to be. And I must confess that in the other way round, it used to be rough, to some extent, people carrying ballot boxes, but in this our dispensation, the issue of carrying ballot box, at a stage started meeting waterloo. Remember in the last election, 2019, the then president of the nation said, go and carry ballot box at the risk of your life; that was Buhari. But previously people carry ballot boxes and go scot-free but now, you might attempt to go and carry ballot boxes and meet your waterloo, you will be shot dead. So there are a lot of small small changes that have occurred in our present political dispensation. We now have debates where candidates are brought before the public to talk about their manifestoes, your political ideology. I think these and other things are the things we have experienced nowadays, besides younger people have started participating in politics, so there is a serious paradigm shift from what it used to be.
Yes. Originally churches don’t talk about politics, but today it is the order of the day, you see clergymen standing on the pulpit talking about politics, who to vote and who not to vote. So there are a lot of changes, there is growth in politics in Nigeria now in as much as there are hitches here and there because we are human beings, it is a man-made law to some extent, therefore you don’t expect it to be perfect, just like in our communities, our forefathers used to live in thatched houses, but now, you see mansions springing up here and there, so that is how far our politics have gone.
Can you say the people of Nigeria are indeed getting the expected dividend of democracy?
Yes, depending on how you look at it, but for me, we are getting dividend of democracy, because politics is about governance, you see roads being constructed, rehabilitated. If we are not getting the dividend of democracy, we won’t be talking about Second Niger Bridge we have in the Southeast today as graciously given to us by the Buhari Administration using the instrumentality of the then workaholic Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). We won’t be talking about so many infrastructures that were built at that time; I know that about 524 roads were going on simultaneously in Fashola’s regime as minister of Works and Housing. That I know for sure. Then in the area of housing, mass housing projects keep springing up and down in Nigeria using the Ministry of Works and Housing, where I know that Senator Shuaibu Lawal, Senator Gbenga Ashafa and his team, now taken over by Hon. Ojo whom I believe will raise the bar, not forgetting Mrs. Hajara Kadiri, who was in charge of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Department, did a lot of work and that is why we have so many housing projects in all the nook and cranny of the country, the most outstanding one being the Gwarimpa, Zuba where you have 764 units, that is a masterpiece, that is dividend of democracy, then narrow it down to the sub-nationals, you see roads inter-city roads being constructed, you see flyovers, springing up from all angles.
Look at what Wike did in Rivers State, about 12 flyovers, and still counting, look at what Sanwo-Olu is doing in Lagos State. You see, when you go to Oyinbo, Yaba, Ikeja, look at Lagos Badagry Express road, look at the light rail, the blue rail, all these things are dividend of democracy which we are enjoying today. In Anambra State, my home state, there are roads being done here and there, through the federation; and it is Lagos that started it, it was the government of Lagos State that opened our eyes, in as much as my brother Ngige did it in 2003, but Lagos State Government opened our eyes in infrastructure and road construction, every part of Lagos is a construction site going on at the same time. Look at the BRT buses, the brainchild of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, today it is actualized, Sanwo-Olu is pushing it to all the nook and cranny of Lagos State. Am I talking about health centres and hospitals, schools, am I talking about market development, look at Oyinbo Market, did by Fashola, it is a whole lot of development. Free education here and there, as it is in Lagos, so it is in so many states, agricultural programmes, the other day, Asiwaju was in Niger state to commission agricultural programme of the state, tractors and all that, so these things are dividend of democracy.
Go to Borno and see what that young man Umaru Zulum is doing there, in Imo State, the Governor, the Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodinma is working, when Engr. Dave Umahi was governor of Ebonyi State, he did wonders there, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, now APC National Chairman, he did great in Kano. It is a litany of gains, a litany of positive policies and actions, our physical policies keep changing, our budget keep changing, the national assembly keep improving, without democracy we won’t be talking about NDDC, we won’t be talking about the most recently approved southeast development commission which is waiting the presidential assent, these are dividend of democracy, and above all, freedom of speech, you can stay in the comfort of your home and say what you like, nobody would harass you, but if there is no democracy, you can’t do all these things, and that is why I congratulate Nigerians, no matter how rough it is, no matter how bad it is, since 1999 till now, we have gotten unbroken democracy, I congratulate Nigerians and I give glory to God.
Do you think Nigeria can rise again from the present problems it is facing?
You see, Nigeria will be out of the woods, because the problem facing Nigeria is not facing Nigeria alone, it is facing the whole world. Any crisis you see in Nigeria is also in other countries including those who introduced modern politics to us, the western world. So we will come out of it but it is a gradual process, and that is why I encourage everybody to put on a thinking cap and proffer solution to the government in your own little way, in any way you can, it must not be Ahmed Tinubu that would do that, you can air your opinion, in newspaper, Television, social media, and all that but not necessarily casting aspersions but making suggestions that could help us to grow, because if we don’t do that and end up having crisis, then we are doomed.
I am very sure you believe in varied opinions, and today there is something going on in the Senate, where Senator Zingi expressed opinion on what he said he discovered, that about N3trillion is not tied to any project in the 2024 national budget as presented by President Tinubu, and because of that he was suspended for three months, what is your take?
I may not be able to talk about it since you said it is still rumour, how do I address rumour?
It is on national dailies and it is being discussed even on Television…
Fine, if a whole national assembly led by the uncommon Senate President, Akpabio, would consider an opinion as abnormal, and go in line with the Act of Parliament; there is nothing anybody can do about it. I am not saying they are totally right or Ningi is right, because I don t have a paper to prove, but I know that all allegations must be substantially proven. However, the much I know Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I don’t see him as a rascal; he can’t be that careless in implementing two budgets as allegedly being bandied here and there. I don’t see him being that careless. However, it is left to the national assembly to interrogate that matter very well which I think they are doing. On issue of suspension, I don’t know the provisions of the act of the parliament, so they are in the position to know whether that action is right or not, but then we cannot afford to have a national assembly being disintegrated, being disorganized in order to thwart our nascent democracy and pull down the good policies of the incumbent president, nobody should allow that. There are other avenues one can use to, and you can see there is no agreement, I don’t think Ningi has a lot of people supporting him, I don’t think so. He may have been misled. Look at the eggheads in the national assembly, it will be a disaster if what he said is correct, but like I said, I am not holding brief for anybody, but I tell you the much I know the president, from the time he fought for democracy, from the time he put his life on line to oust the military, from the time he contested and won as a senator, as governor of Lagos State and now president, I don’t see him making such grievous mistake. I want to believe that the allegation is the hand work of political nihilists.
Some sections of Nigeria, who are not too comfortable with the present administration, maybe be due to hardship in the land, are calling for military to come and rescue them, you have addressed this issue before, now it is coming up again, what is your view on this?
Journalist let me tell you something. The military is a profession I love so much and respect till tomorrow, I was to be a military man but circumstances genuinely beyond my control prevented me from joining the army. I respect military at all times, my love for them remains unchanged, but then I would not subscribe to any military takeover in this country. Recalled that about 30th March 2023, I appeared on TVC to address this issue. So anybody calling for military takeover in this country doesn’t love this country. It is not advisable, it’s condemnable, and even the military they are calling on, I watched television the other day, where they are warning people to desist from such call, and I want to commend the Chief of Defence staff, the chief of Army Staff, for being resolute in keeping within the rules of engagements, and keeping this country as one. We have a lot of problem, why do you want to overwhelm the military again? They are fighting kidnapping, banditry, Boko Haram, they are fighting insurgency of all ramification, why do you want to overwhelm the military again, so any person doing that should go and establish a country of his own where that will happen.
The nascent democracy we have been enjoying since 1999 till now is good enough for us. I will never subscribe to that. I believe in engaging a leader when I feel aggrieved, we have fought war in this country, look at where we are, and finally the whole thing ended in a roundtable conference, therefore if you feel that the present administration is not doing well, you keep on engaging them, you wait for them in 2027, but like I warned it’s still too early in the day to start attacking the administration. Recalled in one of my interviews I said that APC should be given 16 years like PDP before we start talking, and I still stand by that. We have just done eight years and some few months, and people are calling for military coup, to take over from who? To give to who? When we have gotten a seasoned politician, a technocrat and an accountant, a talent developer, a political thinker and a free thinker, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man who has the balls to take had decisions, the man who has the balls to admit that there is suffering in the land due to the hard decisions he has taken so as to pull us out of the woods, and they are talking about military coup, I don’t see it coming true, it is not possible, we don’t want war. We can agitate, you have the right to agitate, you can write petition, you can petition the national assembly; you can even petition the president himself, you can go to court, but not talking about carrying gun to shoot, to take away life, because of what? No. Remember what Jonathan said, that his victory is not worth the blood of a Nigerian, I am trying to paraphrase him. Therefore military coup is not welcome, let’s give Asiwaju time, I still insist that we should give him time. You can criticize him, fine, after all, if you don’t criticize him he would assume that everything is okay, but when people sit in the comfort of their rooms and call him all sorts of names, cast aspersion, that is nonsense, you are not helping the matter, you are trying to make him to be angry, but you know the man, he is used to those things. You know what he said, I am prepared for betrayals, I am prepared for backbiting, so he is used to those things and that is why I have confidence in him, he is never angry.
And look at the way he is handling a lot of things. Did you listen to Governor of Bauchi the other day, when Oluremi Tinubu visited Bauchi, the man said, you and your husband are not segregating, you carry everybody along; that statement touched me. All the way from Abuja she flew into Bauchi, not minding the political differences, and His Excellency, Bala Mohammed was humble enough to acknowledge him. I thank him so much for making that comment, and let me thank Oluremi Tinubu for making that move; this is the only way we can be united, and that shows the government of unity which Bola Ahmed Tnubu talk about, which he has reflected in his appointments.
Let’s go to your state, Anambra State, the Guber election will come up in 2025, but I am sure the politicking geared towards that election have commenced, what do you think APC can do to win the state?
I cannot tell you on the pages of newspaper what APC is doing, but what I can assure you is that APC is strategizing, and strategizing seriously to take over the mantle of leadership in Anambra State. That is the much I can tell you.
What sort of human being are you looking at for the exalted position in Anambra State?
We are still searching. You see, we have a lot of eggheads, political timbers and calibers in Anambra State, so we are discussing.
How united are these timbers and calibers?
Let me ask you, how united are you with your wife and children, APC in Anambra State is one family, just like in your family, you can disagree with your children, you can disagree with your wife but it is one family, APC is one family and they are strategizing and no cause for alarm. .
