Tinubu’s efforts so far show he is ready, available for governance — Umenzekwe

…Calls on political nihilists to stop attacks on President

A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) in this interview with SUCCESS DAMIAN, speaks on the state of the nation, and passes the verdict that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s actions so far show he is prepared and ready for governance. Excerpts:

Our conversation is always tailored towards nation building, as journalists, analysts, commentators; it is all about building the nation. I want you to, in your own view, for many Nigerians there appears to be an uneasy calm in the polity, what do you think is responsible for this uneasy calm in quote?

When you say uneasy calm, I don’t understand, how do you mean, what do you mean by uneasy calm?

The purchasing power of Nigerians has been eroded especially since the removal of the petroleum subsidy, people can no longer meet their daily needs?

You see, since independence in this country, we have always had what you called uneasy calm, according to you. It has never been the same, things keep changing, so it is not peculiar with today’s situation, go and check the records. Then coming to fuel subsidy removal, yes I agree that the price has gone up, it is affecting everybody; nobody can deny that, even the president cannot deny that, but if you listened to him, as a man that is determined to change the narrative, he has the courage to remove it, and have made several statements and promises that we should calm down because he is coming up with palliatives to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal. Now there is an adage that says, when the going gets tough, the tough keeps going, so in all these, the tough has kept going. Past presidents hadn’t that courage, if I may say, to remove the fuel subsidy, and when you look at the campaign period almost all the presidential candidates maintained that fuel subsidy is a problem, it should be removed so that we face this battle and fight it once and for all. And the president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on winning this election, at the inauguration ground, showing that he is prepared to lead this country had the courage to announce the removal, and some people started talking and shouting and saying all manner of things. Is it because he is the one that said it? If it were to be other candidates, maybe some people would be clapping. Look at his policies, look at the decisions he has taken so far within this short period, in as much as I am not defending him for now because he has just started, but we must say the truth. So for him to have the courage to remove the fuel subsidy, I thank him, and not only that, he was able to quench the reactions of the people by engaging with various stakeholders telling them the need for the removal, and I want to congratulate Nigerians and those stakeholders who saw the need, as explained, we have been crying for, so my advice is that we have to calm down, we are not finding it easy, nobody is finding it easy, but with time the system will adjust itself, and with the measures the president will be coming up with, it will be okay, but we need to give him time.

What can you say about Tinubu’s administration, in terms of the steps he has taken, major policy steps he has taken, your assessment, do they portray light at the end of the tunnel?

Like I said, he has just started and people are setting goals for him in one way or the other, without even looking at the renewed hope manifesto. He is working in line with the renewed hope manifesto. He has hit the ground running. His actions so far show that he is prepared, he is ready, he is capable and he will deliver, it is a rough road for him, taking into consideration the quantum of damage already done for decades, so it is a rough road for him, but he is plying the rough road, and as you can see, the opposition is already clapping for him. I am not saying it because it is my party, the opposition is already clapping for him. And that is why a lot of people are now saying all these distractions, petitions, here and there, let us drop them, and join hand with the president. So I see Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a man that is created by God, ordained by God right from childhood, when you look at his history, the huddles he has passed, the attacks he has dogged, right from the military era, up to this stage; he defeated the military, they came up with his parental background, it didn’t work, they came up with his academic qualification, the thing came to not, they now came up with attack during the primaries, and you see people stepping down for him, frivolous allegations came up again that he bought them over, as if that was  not enough they came up with health issue, as if to say that those people criticizing his health are healthy themselves. And I keep asking, who is healthy, tell me any person that is healthy? The same thing they did to Buhari, some people said he would die within one week, the same thing they are doing to Asiwaju, then Asiwaju cleared the Primary stage, went into campaign, they started criticizing him, anything he said, they would use computer and anything to change his speech and talked all manner of things. And now they are saying Asiwaju is speaking Queen’s English, oh this man is intelligent, oh this man is determined, look at him working majestically, where do we go from here? Our people are so insatiable. I am not against criticizing somebody but criticise the person within the ambit of law and facts you can substantiate.

And I come to terms that if God does not curse anybody, don’t curse that person, so Asiwaju is ordained by God, whether he will get it right or not, let us give him some time, let us watch him, look at his appointments, surprises are coming, and I know by the time the list of ministers come out, there will be surprises again. All the Bills that were unsigned, he has signed all of them and today, you can generate your own electricity, I can generate mine. It is no more monopoly. Students can now get loan, they cannot complain again that there is no money to go to school. This is a man that has a vision. Upon that you see some political nihilists still attacking him unnecessarily forgetting that he is not God, he is only a human being. And I insist that we must rally round him in this cause, in this journey of nation building. Let us give him a chance, it is not even up to 60 days. When he travelled after the primaries they said he is dead, because he went to rest. In this country, if you do right you would be attacked, you go left you are attacked, you step forward you would be attacked, you step backward you would be attacked, but I want to congratulate him, for his will power. What attracted me to the man is his will power to take hard decisions in order to move the system forward, in order to change the whole narrative, and I believe he will get it right.

PDP, Labour and APC are still in court over the presidential election, in the midst of all this, the European Union election monitoring group came out with their final report on the election indicting APC and INEC, what is the implication, how do we juxtapose all these?

Let me ask you, is EU a political party? What is the full meaning of EU, European Union, are they political party in Nigeria? Is it one of the political parties in Nigeria? Are they polling agents? They are just observers. The political parties that are involved in the practical election are in court, the polling agents are there and they are talking about an observer, I don’t know if it is known to law in election tribunal, in what area is the election flawed? The INEC that conducted the election are there, political parties are there with their polling agents, is the EU trying to tell the judges what to say or what? You see, I don’t want to comment much on this, because this thing is before a court of competent jurisdiction, but I wouldn’t want third parties coming in to coerce the judges, using social media or whatever to direct the court. If in the end the court says, okay, APC or Tinubu didn’t win, then so be it, if they confirm the election, so be it. But the issue of EU coming at this point in time to talk I don’t understand, they are not polling agents and I don’t see the court taking them serious. Just when you open your phone you see all manner of reporting, talking one thing or the other, this one will say Tinubu appeared in court today, Peter Obi, Atiku, all manner of things, you cannot shoot gun and start shouting at the same time, because the sounds of gun go high beyond your voice, you cannot be in court and out of court at same time. I have said it several times, people should allow NEC, Agents and the Tribunal to do justice to this case. I want to commend the judges at the tribunal when they said, we are going to do justice, we are not going to favour Mr A or Mr B, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, this EU report is neither here nor there, that is my take on that. 

In as much as the election tribunal is still in progress, there should not be any vacuum in governance of Nigeria. What  are the steps you think Tinubu can take urgently, to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerian?

He is already taking the steps by addressing the nation to say we should calm down, he is coming with a package, so let’s wait for him to come up with the package to cushion the effects of hardship, he himself is not finding it easy, whether he is rich or poor, like wise myself and every other person. So it is not that it is affecting one particular individual, it is even global, and it didn’t start today. He met most of these situations on ground. And he is working round the clock to make sure there is serious improvement, otherwise why did he harmonise the exchange rate, so that there will be no monopoly? What you buy from the bank is what you buy from the street. And you can see that since then investors are indicating interests to come and invest in Nigeria. He has just changed the service chiefs, in order to beef up the security, and those service chiefs have just started work, Rome was not built in a day. So he is already taking urgent steps and you can see the accolades being given to him. He has started well, he is moving well, but because of the quantum of damage that has been experienced in this country, some people feel, or we feel generally that he has not done much, he is coming. I will not rule out the insatiable nature of political nihilists, even if you give them your wife, they will still complain and condemn. We know them. I think he is already taking those steps. Let us give him a chance. Remember I said, in my last interview that when people talk, they fail to recognize that the opposition handled this country for 16 years, so let’s give APC 16, APC has just done eight years, remaining eight, by the end of that eight years, we will be able to compare. So Tinubu still has eight years to go and by the end of that eight years we will be able to compare and I think when that period comes, those who condemned APC will sing our slogan.

When we heard that the borders were now open, many thought that it was meant to allow immediate importation of food items, at least in the interim, to tackle the food shortage being currently faced in the country, instead it was opened for those who want to import vehicles.

Is Tinubu an importer?

Why I asked this question is because he said cars

The President analyses situations before he talks; he is taking them one by one, yes. If he had opened the borders for those things you people would start talking, we should allow him, I still insist that we have to allow him and give him time.

Recently in Lagos there were house demolitions in and around Alaba International Market which affected the traders in that axis, initially the government claimed the demolition did not affect the traders, but investigation has revealed that indeed many of the buildings house various businesses. We also know that Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma has met with his counterpart, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to find amicable solution to the standoff. Your view.

It is quite unfortunate that such things are being experienced, but then I have not taken time to, at least know, the government policies concerning those areas, to know whether there was violation, in as much as I will never subscribe to demolition of Igbo properties in the name of politics or any other thing, because I am an Igbo man, but we need to study the situation, and that is why I commend Governor Hope Uzodinma and all other notable Igbo leaders that have stepped in, and equally commend our ever ready listening Governor of Lagos State, Sanwo-Olu who granted them audience and they are talking, so let’s wait and see the outcome of the discussion. But I believe that there must be balance of convenience in anything we are doing, there must be symbiotic association and that is what Igbo leaders are talking about, and I commend them for doing that. Yes we have come to Lagos to do business and earn our living, I will not support the idea of attacking us, the Igbos, in as much as I will not subscribe to our people violating government policies by erecting certain structures, I am saying this because I have been in a position where such things were being discussed, which is not the purpose of this interview, so let us allow that discussion to go on. I don’t believe that the Lagos State Government intentionally will start attacking the Igbos for one reason or the other, and I equally don’t believe that Igbos will intentionally start violating government policies, maybe there is information gap, because nobody raises money and tries to throw it into the ocean. The government says don’t build here, you go and build, I don’t think so. Igbos are not careless, they are entrepreneurs, so there is a communication gap; that is my own opinion, I might be wrong but it is obvious there is communication gap between the system and the people, and that is what Senator Hope Uzodinma has come to handle. So let’s give them a chance, and all other notable Igbo leaders that have stepped into the matter.

I want to appeal to Lagos State Government to give them listening ears, because we have never been divided in this country along tribal or religious lines, otherwise we wouldn’t have had the likes of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Sarduana of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, coming together to say we have one Nigeria, and that spirit should not be allowed to die. And on a final note, I commend the Igbo people, their cool-headedness, for their entrepreneurial nature, for their readiness to develop anywhere they find themselves, may God continue to sustain them, sustain our hosts, Amen.

If there is a message for the new government, you can state it now

There is no message I have for our revered Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, other than please implement to the letter the renewed Hope Agenda because I have read the document, it is whole and encompassing if it is properly implemented, no section of this country will complain. It is a masterpiece. And equally, I appeal to him to always apply balance of convenience in anything he is doing because he is a human builder, he has built so many human beings even before he became president, he has built human beings across the six political zones, let him keep it up to make sure that this country remains rosy for everybody. (Newworld.news)