Ndigbo won’t join nationwide protest; we’re mourning our sons and daughter---Umenzekwe

Honourable (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe, an All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain, in this interview in Lagos made it clear that Ndigbo, apart from being very busy people, are mourning their sons and daughter and therefore will not join the planned nationwide protest slated for August 1. He also spoke on other national issues.

Welcome sir, I want to use this opportunity to express my heart-felt condolences over the demise of your dear uncle, Rev Father Mike, who you did the final honour by burying him. I pray that his soul will rest in peace and also for the almighty God to give you and family the fortitude to bear the huge, irreparable and irreplaceable loss.

Thank you so much for the condolences

Just within the space of a week or two, Ndigbo lost two prominent individuals, political stalwarts and business moguls, I want to find out, how do you feel?

Thank you so much. The mystery that is associated with death is great and no one can interpret that, even the high level prophets cannot interpret the mystery of death, only God, and that is why in all situations you give thanks to God. But in giving thanks to God, we as human beings, we feel very sad whenever death occurs. In fact I pity our people, the Igbo people this period, we have been thrown into a mourning period, we have been thrown into serious confusion, death has thrown us into disarray that we don't know when to recover.

Imagine Chief (Dr) Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu of all people joining his ancestors now that his services, his wealth of experience in nation building are mostly needed. Look at the track record he has kept while piloting the affairs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide; where do we start and where do we stop? It is very painful, it is very tragic, in fact, Ndigbo has lost a patriot, a respected elder and leader for that matter. It is very unfortunate.

While we were still grappling with that, a vibrant young man, a senator, incidentally the senator was representing myself talking to you, because he represented Anambra Senatorial District where I belong, Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, he suddenly passed away at the age of 53. That one is very very very tragic. But one begins to wonder, what have we done, Ndigbo? Why are we getting this type of calamity, we are thrown into serious confusion but God knows the best. The two gentlemen were philanthropists, they were go-getters, they knew when to cut their onions, anything concerning nation-building, keeping Nigeria one, they didn't joke with it; anything concerning Ndigbo, they didn't joke with it, but now within a week or two we have lost two of them. Do you know that Ifeanyi Ubah was in my house on the 19th of July, 2024, to commiserate with my family, the Azike Dynasty in Achina, on the death of my revered uncle, Very Reverend Father Michael Ndukuba Umenzekwe Azike, he was physically present; he dined and wined with us, and the whole town of Achina and beyond were there to welcome him. And after all the pleasantries and his words of commiseration he left, he never knew it was the last time we were going to see him.

As you can see, all political activities in Anambra State have majorly shut down by all political parties and all interest groups. Sir Paul Chukwuma, Onwa Umueri, a very big stalwart in APC who also has interest in the governance of Anambra State, has shut down his political activities for the next 30 days. That would tell you the weight; that would tell you how heavy the exit of this gentleman Ifeanyi Ubah was in Anambra State. Even the governor of Anambra State has made a statement, slowing down everything, all the south east governors, they are in mourning mood because we have lost a man in Ifeanyi Ubah, we have lost an elder in Iwuanyanwu, we have lost our speakers, we have lost our philanthropists, we have lost nation-builders, in short, the Igbo nation in particular are in a mourning mood, and Nigeria as a nation has been attacked by death.

Apart from mourning our two illustrious sons, our legendary musician and a respected daughter of Ndigbo, Onyeka Onwenu, has just passed on as we learnt this morning.

It is indeed a tragedy and a sad moment, but what else can we do other than to hand everything over to God. But as it is now what are you telling Ndigbo, on how to get these two philanthropists, these two business moguls, all of them publishers, what are you telling Ndigbo so that these big shoes they have left behind cannot just be left gaping like that. People must fill the gaps.

I am an Igbo man as well, so I am advising all of us to first of all, go into serious prayer, seek further the face of God, as we have been seeking for God to give us direction and then work as a united body, work as brothers and sisters as we have been doing, in doing that we will be able to sieve out those who will replace them.

Now the southeast development bill has been signed into law. First, what are you telling the president and again what is the content of that bill and what does it aim to achieve?

First of all, it gladdens my heart that the renewed hope agenda of the All Progressives Congress as led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working. By signing that bill into law, I believe that the policy of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation has come into play. The southeast will not feel marginalized again, they will not feel alienated again, now they have greater sense of belonging more than they have been having, all the damaged infrastructures in the southeast before, during and after the war will be touched and brought back to life. For me that is one of the greatest achievements of this administration. God will keep the president, I congratulate him, I congratulate the national assembly.

Recalled that this bill started its journey from the seventh or eighth Assembly as moved by Iyom Senator Ekwunife, but now it was reintroduced by the deputy speaker of the House, Hon Benjamin Kalu. The house gave it a nod and the national assembly passed it and today President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed it into law.

Ndigbo and the southeast will keep on praying for him that nothing will happen to him, I believe that he is leading us well, despite the hardship being experienced in the land by both him and every Nigerian. But I know it will be over. I thank God for this administration, I thank God for our representatives at the national assembly, I thank God for the entire Igbo nation, before long they will see something better than this.

What is on the lips of every Nigerian now is the issue of the planned protest, protest against hunger and bad governance, what is your take? Your advice especially to the youths who want to embark on a journey they don't know how it will end.

In as much as I agree that protest is an integral part of democracy it is not necessary now because hunger has been there, some of these things have been there, not caused by Asiwaju administration. It has been there for decades, if we have time we start from 1960 when Nigeria had her independence, we would be analysing it administration by administration, so it is a global thing. Look around the world and see what is happening, we have to be patient with the government; that is just about a year, so I am not in support of the protest.

Mark you that the EndSARS protest nearly crippled this country, because the organizers could not manage it. The hoodlums hijacked it and tried to pull this country down and that was why I have continued to congratulate Babajide Sanwo-Olu because I pitied him, I thought Lagos has gone into extinction during that protest, but he contained it. Look at the quantum of damage, carnage we had at that time. Who knows where this one will lead to? I believe in strong and hard negotiation. You see how labour negotiated their own demands and they came to a conclusion, so when you are protesting to protect somebody you may run into more crises creating more hardship for that person. So I am appealing to Nigerians, I am appealing to the youths, to please, shelve these planned nationwide pretest. It may not help us. It may bring something worse because hoodlums are likely to hijack it, I do not support it.

Yes while we condemn the protest why is it too difficult for the government to open the borders, import foodstuffs, what is hard in doing that? A hungry man is an angry man. There is hunger in the land. What is wrong in opening our borders and then properly manning them with security appropriately?

It is the government that can answer you that question, I am not there. Do you think that they are all fools? Do you think the national assembly is not working? You think the national executive council is not working. Is that what you are telling me? I am not there. And that is why we have them there to represent us. It is better you go to the national assembly, federal executive council, go to the presidency and ask them this question, yes, we have to be very very careful. If we have elected them, let us allow them, they know that the borders are closed and I know that they are doing something about it so that we don't run into other crises. And let me use this opportunity to say something. Somebody came to my office to solicit so that I can help talk to Ndigbo to join the protest, I say no. The southeasterners, Ndigbo, cannot join this protest. Ab initio Ndigbo know how to manage hard situations, they are very enterprising, I have been saying this during election long time ago, and this period they wouldn't want anybody to disturb them. We are mourning, we are thrown into mourning. No right thinking Igbo human being will go into protesting, so we don't need the protest.

Apart from mourning our two illustrious sons our legendary musician and a respected daughter of Ndigbo, Onyeka Onwenu has just passed on as we learnt this morning. And people are troop out to do protest, we are mourning our sons and our daughter. And we have gone back to the trenches to think about how to assist the federal government to come out of the quagmire

There is also an angle that queries why the people are protesting now when in fact this administration has lasted just one year, they argue that the protest is coming too early in the life of the administration.

That is what I have been saying, it is too early to start judging this man and his administration. He is taking hard decisions that will bring something good in future. When there is no pain there is no gain. That is the summary of the whole thing. You have to go through pain in order to gain.

Let us use Kenya as an example, the people made requests and they did not give them, after the protests, government turned around and still gave the citizens those things they were requesting, now why allow people to die and property lost before giving the people what they wanted? 

Look we are not Kenyans, handle your family let me handle my family, our population is not even the same thing. Let Kenyans solve their problems. Our problems are not the same, so at times when you draw these examples like this they don’t match.

If you go into this thing you will find out that the problem Nigeria is facing is not the problem Kenya is facing, our population is more than that of Kenya, let Kenyans be in their home, and let Nigerians be in their home.  All I am saying is let Nigerians allow President Tinubu and his team to guide us. I do not know Asiwaju as someone who is careless and rascally, I know him as a goal getter; I know him as a listener. I know him as an administrator, a seasoned accountant, well read and well-polished, an international politician and giant, and he came in from the business world, let us allow him. Somebody asked me, is he going to go for second term, I say yes, he is going to go for second term. He has not said so but we are saying he will go, because these hard decisions he is taken will lead him to the second term when they start manifesting.

Some other leaders would say if I took it now it will cause me my second term, nothing will cost you anything. He will go for second term. Today I am hearing he has directed NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote, in Naira too. He has signed the southeast development bill, northwest development bill, he signed N70,000 minimum wage, and a lot of other things, let them exercise Patience. 

It is not easy for me talking to you, and I am sure it is not easy for you either, nor for Asiwaju, it is not easy for everybody but let us keep calm, allow him and pray to God to give him wisdom, the knowledge to pick the right persons; to work with the right people in order to take Nigeria  to the promise lane.