Lagos is blessed with quality leaders – Umenzekwe

Hon (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC); in this interview with SUCCESS DAMIAN in Lagos, he spoke largely on Sanwo-Olu’s Administration, and approved a verdict that the development in Lagos State is as a result of quality leadership. Excerpts:   

Can we meet you?

I remain Hon (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe, my political inclination is the All Progressives Congress (APC); I am a core Igbo man based in Lagos.

In one sentence, how can you describe Lagos for your reading public?

Lagos is centre of excellence, Lagos is mini Nigeria; then Lagos is prime example of peace, opportunities and symbol of Nigerian unity, let me stop there.

You are a chieftain of APC and a prominent one at that, now Sanwo-Olu has been Governor of the state since 2019, do you think he is performing according to your party’s manifesto and programmes?

He is even performing beyond that, he is performing according to our party manifesto and he has even added his own God given natural wisdom, to improve on whatever his predecessors have done. He is doing well and I congratulate him.

Can you point out one or two achievements of the Governor?

You took me by surprise, if I have prepared very well, I would have given you a lot but all I know is that Lagos is very peaceful, businesses are going very well, potholes are being patched up. You have noticed that Lagos is noted for traffic lock jam, new roads are being opened up, then there is incentive for workers, salaries are being paid. And when he came in, he improved the welfare of LASTMA, if I am not mistaking, he doubled their pay.

Then infrastructure is going on, he is cooperating with the federal government; structures are springing up here and there. Security equally improved greatly, people can sleep with their two eyes closed, not that there are not pockets of crimes, but relatively, Lagos has security and that is most important, because if you have security, you can plan, if you have security you can sleep, if you have security you can move, if you have security, all things would come up. He has done very well, and Lagos is always blessed with good and quality governors, all these are coming up as a result of critical thinking by the governor and his team. He has also ensured continuity of projects which were started by his predecessors, go to Agege and see what he did, the light rail project, the Badagry Road project, the lit up Lagos, the Eko Atlantic City project, none was abandoned.

Can you compare Sanwo-Olu and other Lagos State Governors; and what do you think are some of their similarities?

You see in Lagos you don’t compare them, because it is like they have a sort of governance plan that is being followed and let me congratulate the Lagos State governance advisory council, they are doing very well. You see Lagos is very unique; where this person stops the other person continues. And the advisory council is always there monitoring, advising, so it is not a question of comparing, I am saying that they keep improving by the day. In short it even started from the military era, yes when Commodore Ukiwe was Military Administrator of Lagos State when he moved the Government House to Alausa, and from then, I think Commander Ndubisi Kanu was Governor, and the rest of them, then came Marwa when he handled Lagos security wise, then Tinubu came in. After Tinubu then Fashola came in and blossomed everything, because it was during Fashola that an implosive device was first used to bring down a building; that was in Marina. Also bridges were repaired, roads were opened, holdups were taken away, he cleared Oshodi, the Lagos Badagry Express Road started, when he left Ambode came and continued, when Ambode left, Sanwo-Olu came in and continued, so I think it is not a question of comparing them, but congratulating them for continuity, and congratulating APC for holding APC very firm.

I am quite aware that you are a member of the Board of Federal Housing Authority, what advice would you proffer to Lagos State Government, in view of the incessant building collapse in the state?

Well, Proper regulation and close monitoring, recruiting qualified Engineers to handle various building projects, most especially the skyscrapers. Stoppage of changing the building plan half way. I am not saying that is what is happening, but I suspect that such a thing might be a factor. Now when you have a plan for a two storey building, you have a foundation for two storey building, then along the line due to one advice or the other, the developer might say, let’s make it five storey, without going to the structure, the foundation to fortify it, it is likely to collapse. Then monitoring the loads being heaped on any building, the materials used too, not fake materials, when you use sub-standard materials the building is bound to collapse, so everything borders on regulation, monitoring, adequate supervision, then punishing the offenders where necessary, with that the issue of building collapse will be a thing of the past.

Do you think the relationship between the Igbos and the present administration under Governor Sanwo-Olu is as cordial as it should be?

Thank you. You know or you can bear witness, at least in Lagos Markets where Igbos dominate, at least 90% Igbos, there has not been any harassment of any sort, what we do is we pay our statutory fees and all that, trade permits, tax and rest of them, and there is no harassment, nothing. And you can see that during weekends, so to say, Lagos is always filled up. Here in Lagos we have skyscrapers, shopping malls. If the relationship is not cordial, we would not be buying land, building houses, so the relationship has kept improving every day. You see people migrating from Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Delta, Enugu, Abia, even parts of Rivers that are Igbo speaking, you see them migrating to Lagos. I think Lagos has done very well with the Igbos, the relationship is cordial and strong. Not that at times, there may be sort of what I may call little disagreement between the state government and some market areas, there is no doubt about that, but it is normal in any situation, even in your household, you can disagree with your brother, wife or even with your housemaid, so I don’t see that as a problem, there is 90% good relationship, because nothing is 100%, 90% good relationship among the Yoruba, the state government and the Igbo nation.

Do you think the internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Lagos State under Sanwo-Olu has improved in anyway?

Yes, when he was submitting the 2022 budget, he made mention that the IGR improved, and that is why the budget improved. It has improved and it has been so by each successive government in the state. I don’t know how they do the magic but they try a lot, and it will continue to improve the way I see things. In 2019 when he came in Lagos had N398.73billion in terms of IGR, by 2020 it hit N418.99billion still the highest in the country, by the end of  year 2021 the picture of IGR leading states will emerge, but trust me Lagos is already in the lead in the first half of this year according to report with N267. 2billion, representing 31% out the total IGR in the first half of 2021 throughout the federation, remotely followed by FCT with N69 billion.  

How can you rate Sanwo-Olu’s strategy in fighting the covid-19 pandemic, is there anything you feel he should have done differently to further curtail the spread?

You will equally ask me how I will rate Fashola in containing Ebola. You see my son was admitted in one of the Lagos State colleges, one of the best Lagos State colleges, during Ebola, while he is coming out, there is covid, so that gave me a very good experience to analyse the two governors. Just like what Fashola did in Ebola is what Sanwo-Olu did to covid. I think he tried his best to contain it, despite the population of Lagos, despite the fact that the way covid infect people was so mysterious, but you see isolation centres were erected within few weeks, he started looking for funds, the federal government supported, everybody complied with the lockdown and all that, despite the fact that people still believe that there was no covid, that it is all politics, but when it now down on them that people are dying they agreed, despite the fact that people neglected professional advice, flouted the state government order and guidelines, but still he was very calm enough to handle it , to regulate it, and I want to thank the commissioner for Health, Lagos State. Then EndSARS came in again, and he was able to contain those things. So I give him, you know in university when you get 80% or 90% it is A, so I give him A, he did well. And I want him to step up, despite some people are not heeding to his advice but let him step up. Issue of nose mask, there should be more enlightenment, people should be encouraged to take the vaccine, and go for the test, and find a more subtle way of enforcing it without necessarily inflicting hardship on people, because we have learnt to live with covid, but we must continue to educate people.

I will not subscribe to lockdown but we continue to regulate, you might say without nose mask you cannot enter the bank, without vaccine you can’t do this, those things are polices that would come up to make people to comply because it is a policy aimed at saving life and not to destroy life. Then this issue of campaigning against the vaccine should stop, it is all propaganda, to the best of my knowledge. I have asked some friends who are the best brains in medicine and they confirmed that the vaccines are okay so people should be encouraged to take it in market places, churches, clubs, hotels should be made centres for the vaccine not necessarily hospitals, every nook and cranny of the state, people should be there administering the vaccine, free of charge, but then they must monitor fake, because people will capitalise on that, bring whatever chemical they want, inject on people, when people start dying they will say, government has killed people, so they should decentralize this issue of vaccination all over Lagos, in fact in every street there should be a vaccination centre.

The traffic menace in Lagos is not abetting in anyway, what do you think Lagos State can do to ameliorate it?

Inasmuch as the government is trying, one thing is that potholes on all the roads have been filled up, now new ways must be opened up. Then, there are vehicles, stagnant vehicles all over the streets in Lagos, abandoned vehicles, here and there. The owners must be encouraged to remove them, you are passing a street and you see vehicles packed both sides; there is no way you can maneuver. So streets must be free from stagnant vehicles if we are going to get it right. Then, this issue of taking one way, I am surprised that even commercial vehicles are taking one way and nobody is even talking about it, but when private people like us take one way LASTMA will arrest them, and it is causing a lot of traffic lock jam and even accident. So I begin to ask, these commercial vehicles, do they have something special, so that all of us can go and get it and equally keep taking one way? Again regulation is very important, people must obey traffic rules, people must be made to obey traffic rules.

You see, when Fashiola was here, he stood his ground, that was why Oshodi was cleared, Amuwo-Odofi was cleared and so many areas. And I want the present governor to review that strategy and make sure, in as much as he is opening up areas, let him go back and review it and review it very well, this issue of one-way in Lagos, if it is not stopped we are in trouble. Okada must not take one-way, the same as Danfo, nobody should take one-way, it is really terrible, then all road constructions must be given timeline, and if I may recommend, let all road constructions go on much later in the night so that people can move.

Many people complain that their votes don’t count during elections in Lagos; do you agree or disagree with this claim?

You see, people can come up with all sorts of stories and all that, to the best of my knowledge since I have been voting in Lagos, I am always there to see that my vote would count, I don’t agree, votes in Lagos count, otherwise if it doesn’t count, at times you see in a particular election a particular candidate winning the other with just a slight margin, if it doesn’t count how does it happen that way, I have forgotten the year, APC won PDP or another party with a slight margin, so for somebody to say vote in Lagos doesn’t count, that person is economical with truth.

2023 is fast approaching; do you think Sanwo-Olu deserves second tenure as governor of Lagos?

You know Lagos as a cosmopolitan city, as a mini Nigeria, as centre of excellence, they have a specialised way of handling their own things, which I don’t, I don’t know the arrangement, but I believe that Sanwo-Olu deserves a second term; I don’t know their arrangement but because of his excellent performance, he deserves it.

There have been several calls for Lagos to be given special status given the volume of residents and visitors, infrastructural demand and maintenance, how do you think the state can mount pressure on the FG to realize this special status demand?

That is a very good question. In one of my publications on May 12, 2018, page 12, The Authority Newspaper, I made advocacy for Lagos to be given special status position in Nigeria. Lagos deserves special status. I am not from, Lagos, I am an Anambra man, but taking into consideration the factors we have talked about, with a population of about 20 to 25 million, there is no way we can deny them such, then again on September 11, 2018, the same Authority Newspaper, page 21, I said ‘National Assembly should revisit Lagos State Special Status Bill, and I am using this opportunity to tell the 9^th Assembly led by our revered Senator Ahmed Lawal to, please, reconsider giving Lagos Special status, they deserve it.

All those people in Abuja, you see them weekend, they are all in Lagos. On Monday they are back to Abuja, so the population of Lagos deserves that Lagos should be given special status. Most of the lawmakers sprang up from Lagos, they were in Lagos before they relocated to Abuja no matter their states, as a result of their recent political status; some of them have their families here, so it is the right thing to do.

Do you think Lagos deserve more Local government to be recognized by the constitution?

My own state Anambra deserves more local government and you are talking about Lagos. It is a very clear issue, my own state Anambra we deserve more local governments. Even the one that was given to my area was abolished for reasons I cannot explain now, and then Lagos, the population of Lagos is more, so they deserve to be given more local governments. My advocacy is that the 37 local council development areas, LCDAs should be recognized by the constitution.