Hardship: Umahi backs Ohanaeze, Says No Reason For Igbo To Protest

Dave Umahi, the Minister of Works says Igbo has no reason to protest against the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu due to the current economic hardship in the country.

Works Minister David Umahi has said residents of the Southeast have no reason to join other regions to protest against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the rising cost of living in the country.

Umahi made the remark while addressing journalist at his Uburu hometown in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The high cost of living has sparked protests across major cities in the country with Nigerians demanding immediate action of the part of the government to arrest the hunger in the land.

Some parts of the country have also experience looting by hungry and angry Nigerians who blamed the government for the current economic crisis.

In spite of this, the minister said the region has been mostly favoured by President Tinubu, and so the residents have no reason to protest against his government.

Umahi’s remarks comes a few days after the Igbo apex social, cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said the people of the region will not join any protest against Tinubu.

The position of the Ndigbo was made known by Ohanaeze President General, Emmanuel Iwuanyawu.

Speaking yesterday, Umahi said the president has been able to resolve some crisis in the region, including farmers/ herders clashes, adding that most of the problems ravaging the country presently were inherited by President Tinubu.

According to him, the residents of the south east should not allow themselves to be drawn into the protest, saying Tinubu has favoured the region by making him one of the most influential ministers in his cabinet.

He explained that the current economic crisis cannot be solve within a short time, that President Tinubu  came into office barely nine months ago.

He said: “The present hunger that everybody is talking about didn’t start today. It’s a built-up to a number of factors. Before the past administration and present administration, we had been having a build-up of insecurity. We had farmers/herders clashes over a number of years…

“At a time, I was the Chairman of 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 a number of 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, like 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 that 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.”