We are getting good dividends of democracy –Umenzekwe

Chief Modestus Umenzekwe, an APC Chieftain, in this interview, talks about some critical national issues including insinuations by some people for a 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.

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 2019 election, 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 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.

Can you say the people of Nigeria are indeed getting the expected dividends of democracy?

Yes, depending on how you look at it, but for me, we are getting dividends of democracy, because politics is about governance; you see roads being constructed, rehabilitated. If we are not getting the dividends of democracy, we won’t be talking about Second Niger Bridge that 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 infrastructure that were built at that time; I know that about 524 roads were going on simultaneously in Fashola’s time 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 dividends 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 dividends of democracy which we are enjoying today. In Anambra State, my home state, there are roads being done here and there. 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, done 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 dividends of democracy.

Go to Borno and see what that young man Umaru Zulum is doing there, in Imo State, the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma is working. when Engr. Dave Umahi was governor of Ebonyi State, he did wonders there, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, now APC National Chairman, did great in Kano. It is a litany of gains, a litany of positive policies and actions, our physical policies keep changing, our budget keeps changing, and 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 for presidential assent. These are dividends of democracy, and above all, freedom of speech; you can stay in the comfort of your home and say what you like, and 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 had unbroken democracy

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?

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. Recall that about March 30, 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.