The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has expressed worry over increasing spate of poverty and insecurity among Nigerians, while taking government to act before it gets out of hand.
Addressing the 6th Executive Committee Meeting of Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna on Wednesday, with the theme: “Enhanced Security as Panacea for Stability and Development of the North”, the Sultan, who was flanked by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero and the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, said this is no time to hide anything, adding that with millions of Nigerian youths left without jobs and foods, Nigeria has reached a level where people are very agitated, hungry and angry.
The Sultan said, “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 insecurity issues. To make matters worse, we are faced with 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.
“Insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay. 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. 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. We never lack solution to our problems, what we lack is implementation, because we meet today, we brought 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 Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) to come and interact with us on the outcome of 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 to us here, you must talk about education, you must talk about health issue and of the two monsters that have been harassing all of us here, that is insecurity and poverty. People are quiet, they are quiet because people 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. Because that would be the biggest problem, because we can’t quieten these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.
“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 their traditional rulers and some their religious leaders, fortunately some of us double as traditional and religious leaders. 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.
“We must find jobs for our teeming youths that are sitting idle. We are sitting on a keg of gunpowder, having teeming youths; millions of them, without jobs, without food, we are looking for trouble. But, we believe in ourselves, we believe in Almighty Allah to bring succour to all our problems and we will keep on praying and urging our political leaders, who we believe will do something better. We are only advisers to the political leaders, that is all we can do, but if we are empowered and as strong as the Governors by the constitution, by the amount of funds they get from the federal and states revenues, we can also do a lot.
“However, we are ready to work with the Governors, because we believe in them, we believe in what they are doing and must work with them. And if the Governors too want to have peace and stability in their states, they must work with the traditional leaders. I believe at the end of this meeting, we should have very good suggestions to our political leaders, to our security chiefs, that when such is implemented, we will have a better North and at the same time have a better Nigeria,” the Sultan said.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state, in his remarks, said the North has become the epicenter of terrorism and kidnapping. The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Hadiza Balarabe said the North has in recent times been grappling with the problem of insecurity. He advocated that as panacea to the challenges, the states in the region must forge strong partnership on security and other developmental issues and concerns, and establish a command and control centre to coordinate joint efforts against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements within the region.
“This region used to not only be oasis of peace and stability, but also food basket of the nation. Unfortunately this same region has now become the epicenter of terrorism, banditry and kidnappings. Our local economy has been destroyed. The lives so far lost is simply mind bungling. Our people are deeply worried, they yearn for actions. Leaders whether political or traditional must therefore brace up to face these challenges. For us political leaders, we have a responsibility to frontally address challenges, especially in the areas of education, healthcare, agriculture, poverty, unemployment and infrastructural development.
“States in the North must forge strong partnership on security and other developmental issues and concerns. Agriculture, power and infrastructure, especially roads are critical areas where we must collaborate to revitalize our economy and address the challenges of poverty and insecurity. Northern states must develop a common strategy and operational plan to tackle insecurity. We must establish a command and control centre to coordinate our joint efforts against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements within this region.
“Northern traditional rulers must take the lead in the execution of psychological operations. You have a huge responsibility to mobilize and sensitize our people to support security forces to degrade terrorists and bandits. We must establish early warning system and intelligence gathering mechanisms within our communities. Our main weapons must be people because terrorists, bandits insurgents also live amongst us. Traditional rulers have bigger roles to play within our communities. We must restore the glory of the traditional institution if we want security and stability.”
The Director-General Department of State Services (DSS), Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, represented by the State Director of Security, Alhaji Abdul Enenche, tasked the traditional rulers to identify threats before they manifest.
He said most of the threat are very mobile, as he lamented the role of informants as a challenge to the fight against insecurity, while calling for collective stakeholders’ collaboration.
“The informants keep frustrating the role of security agencies. They live amongst communities and this brings to mind the role of traditional rulers who can assist security agencies in fishing out insider threat,” he said.
The meeting was well attended by Chairmen of the traditional rulers from each of the 19 Northern States, as well as leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum and Coalition of Northern Groups.
