Umenzekwe salutes Fashola over appointment into Board of Global Health NGO …Calls him silent humanitarian with compassion for downtrodden
Hon Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has congratulated the former Lagos State Governor and immediate Past Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), on his appointment to the Board of Directors of Resolve to Save Lives Nigeria (RTSL Nigeria), a global public health organization dedicated to preventing epidemics and cardiovascular diseases.
In his message sent through the Media on Thursday, July 24, 2025, Umenzekwe disclosed that Fashola is a silent Humanitarian.
According to Umenzekwe in his congratulatory message Fashola said, “I feel very happy and I am not surprised, because Fashola SAN, CON, has been a very silent humanitarian. He does his things without making noise about it.
“His compassion for the downtrodden is unequalled, so I am not surprised that he was appointed as a board member of such reputable international organisation to save lives of Nigerians and human beings.
“You see Fashola is a pacesetter in humanitarian service and governance. When Ebola broke out few years back, he was abroad, he has to cut his journey short, and ran back to Lagos and immediately went into action, established an Isolation Centre and contained the hydra-headed Ebola disease that wanted to finish up the world. Not only did he open an Isolation Centre, he visited them. He was there in person to know how they were feeling. He mobilised both human and material resources to make sure that the disease was nipped in the bud and today we are no longer talking about Ebola. That alone is enough to get him international recognition.”
Umenzekwe further delved into Fashola’s administrative prowess when he said, “And you see, when a building was about killing people in Lagos Island, that is one of his signature projects, he waded in immediately, despite the fact that he is a lawyer but he behaves as if he is a medical doctor or a healthcare officer. He considered the lives of human beings there, taking into consideration how tight Lagos Island is, he imploded the building without hurting a fly. So that one also is enough to get him recognition, and a lot of other things”
He said his work as a minister of Works and Housing was also remarkable. “You see when the entire Southeast were crying for the Second Niger Bridge because the old one was tight and lives and property were being lost on it, as Minister of Works and Housing, he made sure that the late former president, Muhammad Buhari approved the Second Niger Bridge. He started it and finished. So Fashola went into action, showed compassion to save lives of Ndigbo and South East in general and made sure that the bridge was completed and commissioned before the end of his tenure. So we cannot forget that in a hurry, and other things too numerous to mention.
“On behalf of my family, on behalf of my organisation and on behalf of well-meaning Nigerians that love him, I say a very big congratulations.
“And I pray that more recognition will come, good a thing age is still on his side, may God bless him.
“I wish him well and I wish Nigerians well,” Umenzekwe stated.
Fashola served as Minister of Power, Works and Housing under the Buhari administration and was Lagos State Governor from 2007 to 2015. He previously held the role of Chief of Staff in the state. Notably, he played a key role in coordinating Nigeria’s successful response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, an effort that earned him global recognition, including the Stephen J. Solarz Award from the International Crisis Group.
