“WE WON’T LIVE IN DENIAL”: UMAHI SAYS TINUBU DESERVES APPRECIATION AS DE PINNACLE CLUB HONOURS HIM FOR INFRASTRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
By Afric Reporters
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has urged Nigerians, particularly those from the Southeast, to acknowledge what he described as infrastructure and development strides under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Umahi made the call on October 4 while speaking at the 10th anniversary celebration of De Pinnacle Club International at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre. His remarks were contained in a statement issued on October 6 by Francis Nwaze, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Works on Media.
The Minister, who received the club’s Award of Excellence in Public Service and Infrastructural Transformation, said political sentiments should not prevent Nigerians from recognising projects being executed by the Federal Government.
“We shouldn’t live in denial. We have to appreciate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; even God Almighty appreciates gratitude. It doesn’t stop us from asking for more,” Umahi said.
He cited several federal road and bridge projects in the Southeast, including the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway, Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway, Eke-Obinagu Flyover, New Artisan Bridge, Second Niger Bridge access roads, Enugu–Abakaliki Road and the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja Superhighway.
Umahi said the Second Niger Bridge, although completed before the Tinubu administration, could not deliver its full economic value because of poor access roads connecting the bridge to the Onitsha and Asaba ends.
“We had the Second Niger Bridge fully completed before President Tinubu came into office, but the means of fully utilising the bridge, which is the access roads, was bad. So we are now building the access roads,” he said.
According to him, work on the access roads had reached about 40 per cent on the Anambra section and 35 per cent on the Asaba axis.
The Minister also highlighted the Lagos-Shagamu road as a critical link for motorists travelling from Lagos through Ogun and Edo to Asaba and other parts of the country, saying ongoing interventions were intended to improve connectivity along the corridor.
Umahi further pointed to the appointment of prominent Southeastern Nigerians to strategic positions as what he described as evidence of greater inclusion of the region in national leadership.
“We have never had it like this with other administrations. Today, Ndi-Igbo have a Chief of Air Force, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs and the first Minister of Works,” he said.
On the First Niger Bridge, the Minister said he was alerted through social media to alleged vandalism by scrap scavengers removing components of the bridge, including bolts and expansion metals.
He said his ministry responded to the situation with the support of President Tinubu, adding that plans were underway to deploy surveillance infrastructure on the bridge.
“I will design the First Niger Bridge like the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, with CCTV cameras and control points to fish out these vandals and control accidents,” Umahi said.
The Minister also commended De Pinnacle Club International for its contributions to youth empowerment, healthcare and community development across the Southeast.
“I have seen some of the things you do, helping young men and women from the Southeast establish themselves, building hospitals, and that is what humanity is all about,” he said.
The anniversary celebration, themed “A Decade of Excellence, Legacy and Impact,” brought together prominent Nigerians from politics, business, entrepreneurship and professional practice, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, and business figures such as Chief Dr Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, and Chief Sir Kenneth Ifekudu, among others.
The organisers said Umahi’s award recognised his contribution to infrastructure development, including the adoption of concrete road technology, stronger project accountability and accelerated execution of federal highway projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
In his acceptance speech, Umahi said development required contributions from both government and private citizens, commending the club for its philanthropic interventions.
“True development cannot be left to the government alone. When clubs like De Pinnacle step in to build roads, award scholarships, and empower families with hundreds of millions of naira in seed capital, you are directly reinforcing the foundations of our national economy,” he said.
Umahi dedicated the award to President Tinubu as well as engineers, contractors and other professionals working on infrastructure projects across the country.
