AREWA YOUTHS ENDORSE NDUME FOR SENATE PRESIDENCY, Berates Kaduna Gov Over Insecurity
"Senator Ali Ndume is the best
for the country to lead the National Assembly and, this is not about me; he is
the best for the country. The executive arm wants a situation whereby it will
just go by, without anybody checkmating their excesses, automatically".
"I do not have anything
personally against Senator Ahmed Lawan. The fact of the matter still remains
that the right thing must be done. For somebody to make a pronouncement in the
national daily newspaper and an international medium to say that; “even if he
emerges as the Senate President, if a bill can come forward for the amendment
of the Constitution for Buhari to continue for a 3rd term”, that he
will pass it"
"I do not see any solution
to our problems under this character that undermines people and see himself as
the most intelligent person all over the world and nobody is as intelligent as
he is. He believes that he has the monopoly of knowledge and experience. I don’t
know where he got that from and you can now see, “over sabi, has become the
other of the day and people are now suffering from the hangover of this man"..... AYCF Nat. President on Kaduna Governor
The tussle for the Office
of President of the Senate has continued to generate reactions across the
country with agitations from the various stakeholders pushing for the emergence
of the right candidate, devoid of manipulations and imposition of stooges.
Naij News Alert in its
determination to bring to the forefront, the views of Nigerians, spoke with Comrade
Shettima Yerima, national president of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum.
As always, it was an
explosive and blunt chat. He spoke with Emmanuel Onotevure, Editor-in-Chief.
Excerpts:
Sir, the race for the
Senate President for the 9th Assembly is at pitch level. However,
many have raised concerns with agitations from the members from the North west
zone seeking to produce the Deputy Senate President.
How do you react to this
call from the Northwest, you being a stakeholder from that region?
That is out rightly wrong. They
should not be asking for that. For us, it is a calculated attempt by some
individuals to divert attention. The Northwest has nothing to look for, for
now.
The northwest cannot be
asking for the office of the deputy Senate President when the President and
Commander-In-Chief is from northwest, the Senate President is targeted to come
from the northeast. There should be fairness and equity in electing the leadership
of the National Assembly and, in so doing; there should be consideration for others
especially the Southeast region whose member has been in the House;
distinguishing himself, exceptionally and representing them well.
Let there be an arrangement
where they should consider the Southeast. It has to be that way as, any attempt
by anybody from the Northwest to come out is an agent of sabotage and a
saboteur and such a person is working on a script which would further compound
our problem of unity and the situation of dividing us. No, we will not accept
that.
I am from the Northwest and
I don’t think it is right. If you have a President from the northwest, it is
enough.
Sir, looking at the issue
of the tussle for the leadership of the Senate Presidency, some are of the
opinion that respected youths groups like the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum
of which you are the National President, have been compromised and induced
financially to support the candidacy of a particular contender.
How do you react to this
allegation?
I do not understand what
you mean by being compromised. How?
There is nothing like being
compromised. By all standards, Senator Ali Ndume is the most qualified, if you
look at his resume’. And, by this, I mean by all standards. If you talk about
strong character, commitment, experience and also, being independently minded
and going by his antecedents, we have seen him demonstrating that over time.
Senator Ali Ndume is the best
for the country to lead the National Assembly and, this is not about me; he is
the best for the country.
The executive arm wants a situation whereby it will
just go by, without anybody checkmating their excesses, automatically.
It is not about having one
stooge, arranged by some interests that somebody somewhere, against the
collective interests of over 200 millions Nigerians. Those who are thinking
otherwise of what I am thinking, those are the people that are compromising. Nigeria
comes first!
I do not have anything
personally against Senator Ahmed Lawan. The fact of the matter still remains
that the right thing must be done. For somebody to make a pronouncement in the
national daily newspaper and an international medium to say that; “even if he
emerges as the Senate President, if a bill can come forward for the amendment
of the Constitution for Buhari to continue for a 3rd term”, that he
will pass it. It is worrisome. I am very worried about that.
You can now see that somebody
is just becoming a rubber stamp and that means, there will be no independence
for the Senate. For, him to look and believe that, after the God we worship,
there is no other God than somebody else who will make him what he wants to be,
from other parts of the country in the Southwest. Automatically, you can see
that he has shortchanged the North. Whose interest is he protecting? He just
wants us to fold our hands allow him to do that?
No, we will not. If that is
what you call compromise, yes we agree to compromise for the interest of Nigeria.
If that is what is called compromise, it is indeed.
There is this allegation against
Ali Ndume of being a sponsor of the insurgents in Borno state. How do you see this
affecting his candidacy?
Allegation is an
allegation, everywhere and anybody can be alleged against. The only place you
can be taken to is the police who will investigate and then, prosecution
follows and then, the courts. He has been in court and the court has cleared
him of that allegation.
So, as far as Nigerians are
concerned, he has not committed any crime, he is not an ex-convict. An allegation
can be made at any time.
It was just simply that at that time, we all know it
is part of their politics and a frame up. It was a frame up as he was a threat
to the Jonathan administration at that time. So, how can somebody have links
with Boko Haram at that time and they will still be after his life?
So, those are the plans of
some persons who sat in one place to cook up such stories. As far as we are
concerned, he has no links and the courts have cleared him of that. That is no
story.
Sir, looking at the issues
of insecurity especially in Zamfara and Kaduna states, a lot of people have
expressed their worries and concerns, particularly when you look at gold mining
in Zamfara state which has been linked to be one of the major causes of
banditry in that area.
The question is this; what
has been happening to revenue generated from gold mining in Northwest, Zamfara?
Whereas, the resources from the South-south states and the Niger delta region
have all been channeled into the federation account and shared as allocation to
the other states of the country while nothing is said about the resources and revenue
generated from this area mentioned.
I thank God that they
admitted the fact that it was illegal mining.
Illegal mining and you
threaten to withdraw their licenses? Who does that? How does one marry the two;
illegal miners and licenses?
Well, I recall the governor
saying that those guys are illegal miners and, it could be that proper arrangements
have not been put in place and, that could be one of the agenda of the
government to look for other means of improving and generating revenue for the
country. If that is what they are planning to do for the country, they should
be encouraged to do so but, not under this setting of these funny characters
that we have as Ministers as it is.
Certainly, there must be a
total reorganization of the sector and also, the governors must also begin to harness
some of these resources.
Beyond that issue of mining, there are also other
mineral resources in other parts of the country. We must be seen to do it right.
We should have resources and that is why some of us believe strongly that, we
cannot continue to run a government where everything lies in Abuja.
Where the powers
in Abuja are so much that every state is looking up to Abuja to provide for it.
We must reduce the burden of the central government to some of the regions or
even the states, so that all of them will begin to harness their resources and,
at the end of the day, if it is tax they are going to let there be agreement,
between the state and the federal government, so that, at the end of the day,
it will go into law.
There are certain
percentages generated from certain states that will go to the federal
government for the running of other activities while the states will also have
its own resources to run its projects and programmes. At the end of the day, if
people find themselves in the central that has been decentralized, a lot of
these states will become more vibrant, more functional and there will be serious
competition and then, you will begin to see everything moving in the north.
If we are allowed to
continue the way we are, whereby everything goes to the centre and the states
will have to go to the centre to provide and source for allocation for them,
then you can be rest assured that these governors will continue to be lazy and
they will not do anything.
Lastly, the Kaduna state
government has imposed a 24hrs curfew in Kajuru local government area of the state
following an outbreak of violence in Kasuwan Magain, a community there which
has always been a flashpoint of violence.
What do you think is the
solution to all of these outbreaks of violence that will bring about a lasting
solution that will entrench peace in the area?
You have a governor who is
so reckless from his utterances and makes people believe that they are not part
of the state, that the state is owned by a few individuals and as such, they do
not expect to have peace.
This is because; policing
and security matters are not just strictly government affairs. You need the
collaboration of the communities and also, their cooperation and you need to work,
hand in hand with them, on trust for them to also help you with classified
information and also for you, as governor, to have peace which is usually your
responsibility.
But, if you don’t do so and
continue to make them believe that they are less important, as far as you are
concerned, even if they have meaningful information to achieve that meaningful
peace for people to relax, a lot of people will not come forward to give you
or, share any intelligent report with you. That is one of the major problems we
have today.
I do not see any solution
to our problems under this character that undermines people and see himself as
the most intelligent person all over the world and nobody is as intelligent as
he is. He believes that he has the monopoly of knowledge and experience. I don’t
know where he got that from and you can now see that, “over sabi, has become
the other of the day and people are now suffering from the hangover of this
man.
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