… “Tragic Pasts and Umahi’s Impact on Southeast Infrastructure”

In a time of deep reflection amidst current economic problems, the firm decision of Ndigbo not to join the hardship protests against President Tinubu in the Southeast is based on a moving history of the hardships the people of the region have faced since the start of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 until 2023. In this terrible time, 670 Igbo people died in protests while the Buhari government was in power.

This created a deep-seated fear that state security forces would kill protesters during demonstrations. In this unstable environment, the important ongoing work on Southeast infrastructure development, led by President Tinubu through Senator (Engr)  Dave Umahi, the Southeast APC leader and Minister of Works, is a key reason why Ndigbo have decided not to take part in disruptive protests.

Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Secretary-General of OHANAEZE NDIGBO, wants President Tinubu to quickly think about reorganizing his Economic Team in order to deal with the worsening crises in the North and Southwest. President Tinubu needs to understand that the Southeast is generally peaceful, as shown by the lack of widespread theft of important resources that has been a problem in places like Abuja, parts of the North, and the Southwest.

It is important to recognise that Ndigbo are Nigeria’s economic backbone. President Tinubu should learn from the smart leadership shown by Former President Obasanjo’s economic team, which was led by well-known Igbo experts. The main idea behind this plan is to create a new economic group led by Igbo professionals that supports Nigeria’s membership in the BRICS economic bloc. This would help the Naira become stronger so it can compete well with other currencies once the Dollar is no longer used in Nigeria.

People who say they were in charge of the Southeast’s decision not to protest should be laughed off by President Tinubu. This is especially true of the Southeast’s political elite, which includes Governors, Ohanaeze leaders, Senators, and House of Representatives members. They are seen as opportunists. Many people think that these people are mostly to blame for the Southeast’s decision not to protest Tinubu. However, this is not true. The main reason Ndigbo didn’t vote was because they were afraid of losing lives and because they didn’t want to mess up the important road construction projects going on in the Southeast, which were coordinated by President Tinubu and Senator Dave Umahi, who is the Minister of Works.

Ndigbo is very happy with the good work that has been made in carefully rebuilding Federal Motorways that have been ignored for decades and run through the Southeast. As soon as these important infrastructure projects are finished, they will likely be used as a big bargaining chip to get more Igbo people to back President Tinubu in the future.