ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has called on Igbo communities at home and in the diaspora to abandon renewed calls for a separate Biafran state, arguing that the Tinubu administration has addressed the core issues that once fuelled the agitation.
Umahi said the current Federal Government had responded to long-standing South-East grievances not through secessionist outcomes but by deepening inclusion, integration and equitable participation in national governance.
The minister made the remarks late Saturday while inspecting ongoing mega infrastructure projects along the Enugu–Anambra Road, where he interacted with contractors, traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
According to him, the Biafra movement was historically rooted in perceived marginalisation and exclusion, but those conditions, he argued, no longer exist under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
“When a people are fully integrated, respected and empowered within the structure of the nation, the dream they once chased through agitation has already been achieved through cooperation,” Umahi said.
He maintained that the political and developmental posture of the Tinubu administration marked a clear departure from the past.
“The push for Biafran secession over the years was borne out of neglect, exclusion and underrepresentation, but today the narrative has changed dramatically under President Bola Tinubu.
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“The President has deliberately opened the doors of national development to the South-East. Appointments, policy inputs and infrastructure priorities now reflect true federal balance.”
Umahi pointed to what he described as unprecedented Igbo representation at the federal level, citing his appointment as Minister of Works alongside other strategic positions occupied by South-East indigenes.
“Every sector now bears visible Igbo footprints. The emergence of Igbo sons and daughters in strategic positions is a testament to this inclusion,” he said.
He further noted that major federal infrastructure projects were currently underway across the five South-East states, many of which had remained stalled or abandoned for decades.
According to the minister, these developments explain the growing political alignment between South-East governors, including Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, and the APC-led Federal Government.
“Biafra was never about breaking Nigeria; it was about being counted in Nigeria,” Umahi said.
“Through inclusion, equity and concrete development, Ndigbo are no longer spectators in the Nigerian project; they are co-authors of its future. When justice finds a people, agitation loses its voice.”
He urged South-East leaders and residents to consolidate the gains by supporting President Tinubu, whom he described as demonstrating uncommon political will toward the region.
Umahi recalled that during an earlier inspection of the dualisation of the Enugu-Benue highway at Ninth Mile Corner in September, he publicly declared that the Tinubu administration had “remembered the South-East” and deserved overwhelming backing from the zone.