The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared that the Igbo are no longer marginalised in Nigeria, insisting that calls for a separate Biafran state are no longer necessary.
Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi State, made the remarks while inspecting ongoing federal road projects in the South-East. He attributed the decline in separatist agitations in the region to what he described as unprecedented integration of the Igbo into Nigeria’s national development agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
According to the minister, feelings of marginalisation that once fuelled separatist movements have significantly reduced due to massive federal investments in critical infrastructure across the South-East. He said past administrations left many in the region feeling excluded, which encouraged agitation for Biafra, but noted that the situation has changed.
“In the past administration, our people felt very much marginalised, and that was the reason some people were agitating for Biafra. But today, we are well integrated into the mainstream of the nation, Nigeria,” Umahi said.
He listed several ongoing and completed projects in the region, including the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway, the Owerri–Onitsha Expressway, Section 2B of the Second Niger Bridge, and a 123-kilometre road linking Ndibe Beach in Ebonyi State to the Benue border. He added that total investments in these projects run into hundreds of billions of naira.
Umahi also commended President Tinubu for prioritising the South-East, describing the region as “comfortable” and “very happy” under the current administration. He urged political leaders and stakeholders from the zone to pursue relevance at the national level through strategic engagement rather than rhetoric or sentiment.
Concluding, the minister described the present moment as a turning point for the South-East, expressing confidence that the region is being reintegrated into Nigeria’s political and economic mainstream under President Tinubu’s leadership.