Engr. David Umahi, minister of works, says calls for a separate Biafran state are no longer justified, citing what he described as the unprecedented integration of the South-East into Nigeria’s national development agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi state, made the remarks while inspecting ongoing federal projects in the South-East.
The minister said feelings of marginalisation that previously fuelled separatist agitations had eased due to massive federal investments in infrastructure across the region.
His words: “There will be no need for Biafra again. In the past administration, our people felt very much marginalised… and that was the reason some people were agitating for Biafra, but I can say today that we are well integrated into the mainstream of the nation, Nigeria.”
He expressed gratitude to Tinubu, describing the South-East as comfortable and satisfied with the current administration.
“We are comfortable with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we are very happy with the integration,” he said.
Umahi said several federal road projects in the region had stalled for more than a decade before being revived by the Tinubu administration.
“For more than 15 years, it has been one government will come and just do something and go. But the section being done by MTN under RCC is going to be completed by February… fully and totally, and it is costing us ₦202 billion,” he stated.
He added that another 72-kilometre road section handled by SKCC at the cost of ₦150 billion had already received 30 percent payment.
Umahi said the federal government was prioritising concrete roads designed to last between 50 and 100 years.
“The job of building roads by Mr President all over the country is that these roads will stay over 50 years to 100 years,” he said.
He listed key projects in the region, including the Enugu–Port Harcourt expressway, Owerri–Onitsha expressway and section 2B of the Second Niger Bridge valued at ₦176 billion.
He said: “You go to Enugu now, you see the Artisan Bridge finished, dusted and delivered. You go to Depot Junction in Eke-Obinagu, the biggest flyover in the South-East is going on there.”
The minister also cited the Enugu–Abakaliki road project costing ₦172 billion and a 123-kilometre legacy project valued at ₦424 billion from Ndibe Beach in Ebonyi state to the Benue border.
“These are the reasons why I said we do not have any reason again to agitate for Biafra. He that has started this great and beautiful thing, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he will continue it,” he stated.
Umahi said the South-East must pursue political relevance through strategy rather than rhetoric.
“We cannot retake our rightful position by sentiment and venomous statements. It is by realities and being strategic,” he said.
He described his support for Tinubu and the defection of the Enugu state governor to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as strategic decisions.
“I am supporting President Bola Tinubu; it is being strategic, the governor of Enugu State coming over to APC is being strategic,” he said.
Umahi also commended governors in the region, particularly his successor in Ebonyi state.
“My governor in Ebonyi State; we have this culture of working without commissioning, and that’s what my dear governor is doing,” he said.
He concluded by describing the moment as a turning point for the South-East.
“Even those that don’t want us to take our rightful position as South-East people, God has opened the time. This is our time, and this is the time that God has sent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reintegrate our people,” he said.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.