Umahi Fires Back as Remi Criticism Sparks Fresh Nationwide Debate

(David Umahi. Photo Credit; Vanguard News)

Works Minister David Umahi has come to the defence of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu following backlash over her recent remarks urging young Nigerians to embrace hard work and vocational skills, maintaining that her counsel was well-intentioned and undeserving of mockery.

Speaking at a public event, Umahi urged Nigerians to stop trivialising every well-meaning piece of advice, emphasising that every citizen has a duty to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s development. He said that when the First Lady,

whom he described as the nation’s mother, sought to encourage young people, it was a call for Nigerians to change their attitude toward work, adding that everyone must be productive the way people are in China if the country is to move forward, since everyone must have something doing.

Drawing on his own upbringing, the minister argued that a humble background should not be seen as a limitation, recalling that his mother sold akara and farmed alongside his father, but noting that this did not mean he was obligated to continue farming or selling akara at the same scale simply because it funded his education.

He questioned why genuine advice was constantly being ridiculed and asked whether everyone could realistically become a banker at once, urging Nigerians to be serious for once.

Umahi also rejected claims by a presenter with an online news platform, Rufai Oseni, that the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project was responsible for recent flooding in Lagos.

Responding directly to the journalist, he told him to leave infrastructure matters to professionals in the field, describing himself and his colleagues as the true experts on infrastructure.