The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Wednesday said the twin monsters of insecurity and poverty are putting Nigeria on edge especially the Northern region of the country.
Sultan Abubakar, who spoke at the 6th Executive Committee Meeting of Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna, expressed fear that the millions of Nigerian youths left without jobs and food has made Nigeria to sit on a keg of gunpowder.
The Sultan told the meeting which had in attendance the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, and the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, that there is no time to hide anything again, stating that Nigeria has reached a level where people are very agitated, hungry and angry.
According to the Sultan: “We have had such meetings before with the Northern Governors so many times at Kashim Ibrahim House. We have now entered into a new cycle of leadership. Some new Governors have come on board while some are having their second term and still we are faced with these issues.
“To make matters worse, we are faced with the rising level of poverty of most of our people; lack of normal sources of livelihood by the common man to have even a good meal a day. But, I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay. I have said it so many times and at so many fora that things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the North.
“What are the real issues bringing about poverty and rising cases of insecurity? I don’t think it is the issue of the new government. To me, this government is a continuation of the former government. It is the same party. So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves.
“We owe it a duty to the millions of people that believe in the traditional institution, to bring solutions to the various problems facing them. We will not fail in doing that. We will do our best.
“I have said so many times, that we never lack solution to our problems. What we lack is implementation because we meet today, we bring out so many beautiful ideas on how to solve our problems. We go back to our various places and go to bed, leaving such solutions here in this conference hall. So, how do we implement them?
“This is why we invited the leadership of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) to come and interact with us on the outcome of a similar meeting they organized in Abuja. We also invited the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to be part of us and talk to us too, because as elders, some of whom have been in politics, who have done a lot for the North and the Country. At the end of the meeting, we believe we will come up with various suggestions on how to resolve our numerous problems in the North.
“Education is important, so whatever issue you want to bring us here, you must talk about education. You must talk about health issues and of the two monsters that have been harassing all of us here, that is insecurity and poverty.
“And let’s not take it for granted. People are quiet, they are quiet for a reason, because people have been talking to them. We have been talking to them. We have been trying to tell them things will be okay and they keep on believing. I pray to Almighty Allah that they will not one day wake up and say we no longer believe in you. That would be the biggest problem, because we can’t silence these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.
“So, I think it is good we talk about these things and let us be very honest with ourselves. Let us be very frank about what we are going to tell ourselves here. It is no time to hide things. We have reached that level, people are very agitated, people are hungry. They are angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them. They believe in some of their Governors, some other traditional rulers and some their religious leaders. Fortunately, some of us double as traditional and religious leaders.
“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calm them down and assure them things will be okay, and they should continue to pray and pray and still do something good, because prayer without work will not bring anything.”