'You failed our region': Uba Sani asks northern leaders to stop blaming Tinubu, challenges them to take responsibility The governo...
'You failed our region': Uba Sani asks northern leaders to stop blaming Tinubu, challenges them to take responsibility
The governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani, has ordered the northern leaders to cease the blame game on the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the ills of the Northern region. Elite complacency, institutional neglect, and decades of bad policy choices that occurred prior to the current administration, he said, are the cause of the problems in the north.
During a two-day summit of citizens in Kaduna organized by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Governor Sani said that blame games were no longer allowed. He advised leaders in the north to take the bull by its horns and join Tinubu government to find solutions to the crisis in the north.
Such participation should not be limited to speeches. Sani, who was holding the event attended by ministers, federal officials, traditional leaders and ordinary citizens, said: "This is a time of profound reflection."
According to him, the gathering was not a political party but an opportunity to view what President Tinubu has claimed and more so to look upon what the northern stakeholders have or have not done.
Yes, that is what Tinubu had said that he would do. However, the truth of the matter is that he has remained on the side of the north in most of the vital sectors including security, farming, education, and business equality. The issue is, are we as leaders in the north of our word to our people? He asked.
Sani, who governed Kaduna a little over a year after serving in the Senate, at 2020, on the same note, said the North could not afford to point blame at others to resolving long time problems.
He asserted that northern lawmakers had double standards since they did not utter a single word when the region started experiencing negative socioeconomic index levels but after two years of Tinubu in office they were pointing an accusing finger at Tinubu.
There was increased poverty, insecurity increased and education decreased during over 20 years. Who are those shouting accusing Tinubu of what? where were they when these began to occur? He claimed that it is hypocritical to blame now a government that inherited decades of evils.
According to Sani, the solutions to the problems in the North could not be done by a president, no matter how innovative he/she was. There was a need to cooperate between state governments, traditional leaders, and communities.
There is no more time to wait on Abuja to do it all. The North must become a resuscitated nation, to live its own life, he said.
Additionally, Dr Muazu Aliyu, who had been a governor of the state of Niger and the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation said that amongst themselves the Northern political and intellectual elites should share some part of blame what the Tinubu government wrought upon them in the North.
According to him, his problems with this government had not occurred yesterday, and his government was not the only one to blame.
We all who just watched and did nothing are at fault as well. We failed to do what we should have done the most.
Rebellion, bandits, poverty, the increasing population of children out of school, porous borders, and rampant unemployment among the youths were the crucial issues mentioned as given out by Aliyu.
He stated that man is growing apart with his government thereby causing the rise in mistrust, misinformation and propaganda and anger among the citizens.
According to Aliyu, the governments, and the governed do not communicate enough. That gap is making people angry, and lose faith. This platform aims to attempt to unite people.
He claimed that institutionalised, town hall-style meetings should become universal in the country citing examples of where this type of citizen participation has led to a more democratic atmosphere and influenced the crafting of policy.
Can we be clear already that being partisan is not the same as running the government. He said people should have the courage to speak and use respect and clarity. The citizens need to be heard by their governments.
Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), solicited the same in his speech when he told President Bola Tinubu to re-dedicate himself to developing the Northern region as the region would again vote to Tinubu in 2023.
According to Dalhatu, out of the 8.8 million votes that gave this government power, 5.6 million were casted by the north alone.
We believe the region has deserved the fruits of getting what was promised during the campaign.
According to him, at a formal meeting with President Tinubu on May 30, 2024, North leaders had briefed president about some key agendas.
They included a higher level of security, the resurrection of farming, more education, and investments into energy and infrastructure as the first things that they wanted.
Dalhatu did not argue that these types of actions are slow, but he emphasized the fact that the Federal Government had to begin to get clearer with Northern issues in government policies and programs.
According to him, our appeals have been non violent, respectable and constructive.
We wish to be able to help the President deliver on his pledges, particularly to communities, especially those of the North, who still live in poverty and are not safe.
Dalhatu commended the foundation on maintaining the dialogue and encouraged citizens to continue to work with government since it is one of the ways through which democracy will be enhanced.
Dalhatu said that, these negotiations must continue so that we can know each other, cooperate and take responsibility.
The Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, has demanded that the Northern federal states pay greater emphasis on infrastructure and education since he believes the national growth is negatively affected by the present neglect of such infrastructure and education.
He lamented that the region had excessive number of the 20 million children out of school in the country.
He claimed that this figure indicates the failure of its structure that occurred with time. With just half of the N15 trillion federal budget, he added, schools could be built, teachers trained and the number of those not in school drastically reduced.id.