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A major stakeholder in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Enugu State, Adolphus Ude, has lambasted the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for claiming that the Igbo are happy and comfortable with the purported inclusive governance of President Bola Tinubu.
Contrary to Umahi’s claim, Ude, pioneer Deputy Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State and currently Coordinator of ADC Enugu Like Minds, insisted that Igbo marginalisation remains widespread under the Tinubu government.
While inspecting some ongoing federal infrastructure projects in the South East a few days ago, Umahi blamed the marginalisation of Igbo on Biafra agitation.
The former Ebonyi State governor, however, declared that the Igbo are well integrated into the mainstream of the nation and the people of the South East are now comfortable and happy with President Tinubu.
Reacting in a statement yesterday, Ude described the comments made by Umahi as misleading, selfish, unwarranted and not a reflection of the sentiments in the South East today.
According to the ADC chieftain, the marginalisation of the Igbo, rather than abate, has worsened since President Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, both in allocation of federal infrastructure and appointments.
While pointing out that members of Enugu ADC Like Minds believe in one strong, united and indivisible Nigeria and do not support secessionist agitation in any form, Ude rejected the statement by Umahi that the Igbo are happy and comfortable with the inclusive governance of President Tinubu.
He raised some posers, asking, “Which of the long-standing grievances of the South East region has the Tinubu administration addressed? What has the Tinubu government done for the Igbo, different from what successive governments did?
“Which inclusive governance is he talking about when the entire South East was excluded from the two outrageously priced signature road infrastructure projects of the Tinubu administration-the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway- both awarded to the controversial Hitech Construction Company Limited?”
Speaking further, Ude lamented that none of these multi-trillion Naira signature road projects of the Tinubu administration passed through any of the five South East states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi, even as an ordinary bypass.
He regretted that none of the ongoing federal road projects in the South East inherited by the Tinubu administration two and half years ago has been completed, stressing that work has been very slow in Enugu-Port Harcourt, the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway and Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
“In January 2024, Umahi told us that the Federal Government had commenced the Ninth Mile-Enugu-Makurdi Highway. Almost two years after, the Enugu-Axis, which is within the South East, remains in a decrepit state.
“Umahi claimed that these concrete roads, when completed, will last 50 to 100 years. Whether they will last forever or not, let him complete them first before talking about how long the roads will last.”
Ude drew attention to a headline in the media a few months ago that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved projects worth about N3.9 trillion to Lagos State alone in two years and consequently, challenged Umahi to say the monetary worth of the ongoing federal road infrastructure projects in the entire South East, to buttress the inclusion of the Igbo by the Tinubu administration.
He cautioned the Minister against making unguarded utterances that could be detrimental to the Igbo interest now and in future, adding that no wise politician plays politics with the destiny of his own people.
The ADC chieftain noted that without equity, fairness and justice in the allocation of infrastructure, Nigeria cannot have a balanced development, short of which there would be no peace and progress and people would continue to engage in one form of agitation or the other.
Beside the imbalance in the allocation of projects against the South East, Ude stated that the Igbo have suffered serious marginalisation in ministerial positions and other federal appointments under the Tinubu government.
“Ogun State alone has four ministerial positions, while only the five ministerial positions were given to the entire South-East region by the Tinubu administration, just as the region was marginalised in the appointment of heads of major parastatals and agencies,” he stated.
