Nigeria’s Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi has given reasons why the Southeast zone shunned protests against President Bola Tinubu’s administration despite the economic hardship in the country.
Umahi asserted that Tinubu has resolved the incessant farmers/herders clashes in the region.
The former governor of Ebonyi state, stated this on Sunday while interacting with newsmen at his Uburu hometown in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the clashes contributed to the insecurity in the area and affected food production, leading to hunger in the land.
The Minister argued that the high cost of living was a ripple effect from the past administrations’ actions and inactions.
He, however, explained that the President has started resolving the situation.
The Minister said Tinubu’s administration has favoured the Southeast greatly through appointments to key positions, including himself, the first Minister of Works from the Southeast.
He said the administration has been doing many projects in the region, adding that with all these, the Southeast has no moral justification to join those protesting against the President over the high cost of living in the land.
Umahi urged residents of the region not to be lured by any group or other regions to join any protest against the president.
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According to him, “The present hunger that everybody is talking about didn’t start today. It’s a built-up to several factors. Before the past administration and present administration, we had been having a build-up of insecurity. We had farmers/herders clashes over several years.
“At a time, I was the Chairman of the NEC committee on resolving farmers/herders clashes. So, I went through a number of states, especially the northern states, settling the farmers/herders clashes, and it yielded several fruits.
“That problem dealt a huge blow to food production. The issue of kidnapping and the issue of insecurity prevented farmers from going to their farms because here we are talking about hunger.
“And so, you expect the administration of President Tinubu to fix all those things within nine months? It’s not possible. It’s a cumulative effect of the past, as I have mentioned. We should be asking ourselves: how do we solve these problems? That’s what the President has started doing. When something has got to the climax, you don’t expect to resolve it overnight.
“If you check very well, especially in the Southeast, you will know that we no longer have incessant farmers/herders clashes. So, why should we join the protest when the President has solved our major problem? The problem we now have in the Southeast is self-inflicted. That is the issue of unknown but known gunmen.
So, if we are protesting, who are we protesting against? We are protesting against a President who has solved herders/farmers clashes. If you remove the issue of unknown gunmen, the Southeast will be completely safe and farmers can work. So, we can’t go and join anybody to protest.
