The Chairman, Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar lll, on Wednesday, decried the deteriorating socio-economic as well as insecurity ravaging the country.
Abubakar declared that with the current downturn of the economy which has inflicted untold hardship on on Nigerians, all was not okay with Nigeria, especially the north.
He also said the nation was sitting on a keg of gunpowder with millions of Nigerians without jobs and food.
Abubakar spoke while addressing his colleagues at the 6th Executive Committee Meeting of the council with the theme: ‘Enhanced Security as a panacea for stability and development of the North,’ held at the Arewa House, Kaduna.
“We must find jobs for our teeming youths that are sitting idle and I have said it so many times, we sitting on a keg of gunpowder, having teeming youths millions of them, without jobs, without food, we are looking for trouble,” he said.
He lamented that the two monsters confronting the nation at the moment are poverty and insecurity which if not tackled urgently, could spell doom for Nigeria.
On insecurity and poverty in the North, the monarch said the traditional leaders being closest to the people have had the onerous task of calming down nerves, assuring the people that things would be okay.
He said, “We have entered into a new cycle of leadership, some new Governors have come on board, while some are having their second term and still we at faced with these insecurity issues.
“To make matters worse, we are faced with rising levels 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 new government.”
Penultimate Monday through Tuesday, angry youths and women took to the streets of Minna, the Niger State capital, and Kano to protest what they described as the rising cost of living in the country.
Similar protests also erupted in Ondo State in the Southwestern part of the country.
In Niger, a group of women reportedly blocked the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road at the famous Kpakungu Roundabout and called on the Tinubu administration to address the challenge of ‘hunger in the land.’ The mob deflected attempts to quell the protest by security operatives who fired tear gas canisters into the crowd and arrested others.
Abubakar insisted that the country is not well, adding that Nigerians’ quietness in the face of these challenges must not be taken for granted.
The Sultan added that there should be no pretence that all was well with the country as Nigerians were more than ever before agitated because they “are hungry and angry.”
According to him, as a way out, the millions of unemployed youths roaming the nation’s streets and sitting idle must be engaged and taken off the streets by being gainfully employed as a measure to stave off further calamity in the land.
He was however quick to exonerate President Bola Tinubu while noting that the current sorry state of the nation was the continuation of the last administration of the All Progressives Congress.
He said, “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 teeming 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.
“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.
“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.
“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calm them down and assure them things will be okay.”
The meeting which later went into closed-door centred on health issues, insecurity and poverty in the region(north).
It had in attendance the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Iyerste; and other traditional rulers, prominent members of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Coalition of Northern Groups, as well as the representatives of the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, amongst others.
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