Mbah, Umahi commend South East for shunning nationwide protests

The Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, and the Minister of Works, David Umahi, praised the South East region for not joining the recent nationwide protests during an inspection tour of Federal and State road projects on Sunday.

Addressing journalists during the inspection tour, they disclosed that the region’s decision to abstain from the protests helped avoid potential losses and demonstrated goodwill towards the Federal Government.

The leaders commended the region’s restraint, which they believe prevented unnecessary risks to life, property and business.

Mbah said, “I also want to take the opportunity to commend our people greatly for heeding our call to shun the protests and go about their business. We commend them highly because they understand the value of hard work.

“Sometimes, you may not be able to appreciate the effect of government policies immediately, but I tell you that some of these policies are well-intentioned. With time, if we can just exercise a little more patience with the Federal Government, we are going to begin to see the value of these reforms.

“We want to continue to call on our people to go about their business and know that if they destroy our assets, we are still going to use the wealth of our common patrimony to fix those assets. So, we must remain focused and continue to do our work.”

Umahi said the people of South East and the Igbo community all over Nigeria had made a loud statement by not protesting.

“We are not going to protest. We want proper integration in the affairs of this country. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr President, started it by giving an Igbo man the Minister of Works, appointing an Igbo Man as a service chief, among others.

“We have been excluded from governance and development in the past. But now, you can see infrastructural developments in South-East. So, why should we protest against a man who has given to us what was never given to us before?

“I thank Governor Mbah very much for showing leadership not only in development strides but also when it mattered most. I appreciate other governors and other states that did not protest,” he stated.