Umenzekwe
was speaking in his office when the Governorship candidate of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as
Jandor visited the Market on Friday, January 27, 2023, in continuation of his
grassroots, door-to-door campaign.
Umenzekwe
said “You see leadership is given by God, that we campaign from here to
Jericho, from Jericho to Jerusalem, it is God that will definitely say, this
person will be the governor; and if we have that at the back of our mind, the
sky is our limit.”
Umenzekwe
who described Lagos as a mini-Nigeria, spoke on a wide range of issues
including his call for special status for Lagos in the national budget ‘This
period is a very tough period in the country and in Lagos State. I keep saying
that Lagos is a mini Nigeria, I have written on it, I have said it and I am
repeating it again, and anybody that is capable of handling Lagos is capable of
handling Nigeria, and we are happy to have a young man like us aspiring to be a
governor of Lagos State.”
He thanked
Lagosians for being good hosts to visitors. “I must confess that in as much as
it is not a bed of roses, but I must congratulate every indigene of Lagos State
for what they have done for visitors, every indigene of Lagos State, I must congratulate
all of you, because Lagos is a state that accommodates everybody, this is a
state you come and do your business, this is a state you come with nothing and
you are going with something.
“This is a
place most of us buy land, build without undue harassment or whatsoever. Apart
from whoever that may be governor, if Lagosians are hostile to us, you know it
will not be possible, and that is why I have written and appealing to the
national assembly to please, give Lagos State Government a special status in
the budget. In a place where you have a population of over 20 to 25million the
pressure is much, traffic pressure, human pressure and all that, so Lagos State
deserves a special status in this country, if Lagos collapses, this country has
collapsed, whether you like it or not,” Umenzekwe stated.
Umenzekwe who
praised the current government of Lagos stated that the major problem
confronting the commercial complex is the issue of area boys, “It is not all that bed of roses, even though the
government of the day is trying, but we still have some challenges, issue of area boys is a problem which we must
fight headlong, once we are able to stop the activities of criminals to the
barest minimum, have a better business environment, the sky is our limit.”
Dr.
Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) commended the Igbos for being the goose
that lay the golden egg of the economy of Lagos and that they deserve better
treatment, saying that the government of PDP will do better.
He said that
even though Lagos accommodates visitors, the same Lagos has not done enough,
adding that the current status of Lagos as the richest state in Nigeria would
not be possible without the contribution of Ndigbo in Lagos. “We thank you for thanking us we Lagosians for
accommodating you. Yes the narrative is that we are very accommodating, but we
still believe that all the harassment that happen to your market in Lagos, in
Alaba, in Ladipo, in ASPMDA, everywhere shouldn’t be so because the contribution
you make to our economy via all these markets, the status we currently have as
the richest state in Nigeria would not happen.
We believe
we have not done enough and that is what we are coming to correct if we come to
power.
“I know that
even as an Igbo man if you decide to take all these your wealth or
contributions to your state, that is where the market would go, people are
coming here because they know you are here. So we must protect that, we must
protect you because you are like the goose that lays the golden egg,” Adediran
stated.
He continued
“You see, for too long, I am sure our government has seen you as second class
citizens in this Lagos, but we assure you that we will get it right if we are
voted into power. We know that you want a Lagos that your children will be seen
as one of us, a Lagos nobody would say Omo
Igbo Oshi, a Lagos that nobody would not allow you to exercise your
franchise, a Lagos nobody will tell you that there is no PVC because you are an
Igbo, that is the Lagos that you want and that is the Lagos we are bringing if
we come into power. We will do better and I want to apologise on behalf of the
government of the day because I know they have not done well the way they are
treating you.”
Jandor
maintained that there is every need to protect the Igbos in Lagos because they
are very enterprising people “If you are running an economy you look at places
where the money is coming from and what they need to do, is to protect those
places, you make sure you give them facilities that will make their business to
continue to thrive, but are we seeing that in Alaba and other markets where the
Igbos do their businesses? When the containers are coming in, I am from Ojo
Local Government, I know what the business people face that place.
“As I was coming
to the market I saw my people loading and offloading, that is you creating jobs,
so if I frustrate you or Igbo people I have taken away this source of
livelihood from my brothers, even as little as they think you are given them,
and this is something that is playing out in our state here.”
He said it
is one of the reasons he wants to go round and meet the real people, because
they wear the shoe and they know where it is pinching them.
Adem
Industrial and Commercial Complex leaders who were present during the visit
include the General Secretary, Mr Chukwuemeka Nzekwe; the Public Relations
Officer, Mr Raymond Eze; Assistant Secretary, Mr Innocent Eze; the Acting
Chairman, Security, Nze Augustine Umenzekwe; the Taskforce Chairman, Alhaji Hakeem
Lawal; and an Executive Member, Chief Felix Ezenwakpadolu.
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