·Lists the North's problems with the Tinubu government
National President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, Yerima Shettima, in this interview, reviews the participation of the North in the ongoing protests, saying the region has been pushed to the wall by the government.
The North actively participated in these protests unlike in the past, thereby taking the country by surprise. What can you say about it?
It is a clear indication that, over time, the North has been neglected by its previous leaders, who didn't do the needful. They left the people frustrated. Already, there is poverty and we have said it countless times that the governors are supposed to be doing better than they are doing. We were privileged to be at the helm of affairs in this country, but our leaders have not done enough.
They planted what we are reaping today. The eight years of Buhari was just a waste for the region and the country. Tinubu inherited the problem. And this is the consequence of the wasteful leadership of the Buhari era. That is what provoked our people to be deeply involved in the demonstrations.
If the leaders cannot do the needful, they will see the worst protests shortly where everybody will be consumed.
The impression in some quarters, especially those in government is that the reason for anger in the North is because appointments by government do not favour the region...
It is not about appointments. It is about poverty and hunger in the land compared to the South. This is in addition to the recent policies by (the Tinubu) government.
Even when the government tried to provide succour, some people among the northern elites ensured it didn't get to the people. Only recently, we learnt that money was given to the governors by the Federal Government to give to the people, but nothing was disbursed until the Federal Government opened up.
There should be synergy between the Federal Government and states. And if anything for the people comes to the state, it must get to the people. This is the implication of not allowing the people to feel the impact of any government at any level and not the appointments.
Of course, the appointments do not do justice to the North, and we have raised the issue. What baffles some of us is that most of the appointments are given to people who are not in touch with the people. They give appointments to the elites, who have no track record of having anything to do with the masses. They never believed in the masses and had nothing to do with them.
How do you expect the masses to feel the impact when such people are given appointments? The government has to look inward. There are people who, if you want to give appointments, you will look at their track record - they should be people who live with the masses.
You don't have to give appointments to people who are far from the masses. They shouldn't be people who have nothing to do with the people and expect governance to get to the people. This is part of the mistakes this administration is making.
The same thing happened during the administration of Buhari. The same mistake is happening again. Can people endure this hunger in the next three years? It is impossible. That is why we have seen this level of reaction in the North.
Do the reactions witnessed in the North mean that it is worst hit by the hunger in the land?
The North is the worst hit. Before the coming of this government, the North had been hit by hunger, which was caused by insecurity.
The government should have worked with state governments to bring an end to insecurity and bring lasting solutions so that people could return to their farms, but it didn't. In the North, all we have is farming, we don't have crude oil.
People cannot go to farms and do not receive any palliative from the state or the Federal Government.
We only hear about palliative in the media. People came out to protest because their lives no longer have meaning. They became provoked and came out to the streets rather than dying silently.
Naturally, we would have said this problem started from Tinubu, but the Buhari administration created the problem. However certain policies of the Tinubu administration increased the challenges. When you come up with policies, you provide palliative to cushion the effects. Nobody would have succeeded Buhari without removing the subsidy, but there should have been a palliative that would get to the people.
Government should have declared a state of emergency on insecurity in the northern part of the country. We saw the efforts of people like Matawalle and a few others. The government should have followed suit. Unfortunately, appointees from the North are not talking. The only people talking are Ribadu and Matawalle.
Where are appointees from the northern part of the country? Why can't they come out and speak to their people? Where are those senators from the North? Why are they running to Abuja? Some have even left the country.
Where are those House of Representatives members? They have all run away. Why are they not speaking to their people? Why are they not pleading with the people to remain calm?
When you consider the fact that the North was silent during EndSARS and became active during this protest, it raises many questions...
EndSARS had to do with Yahoo Yahoo, otherwise known as fraudsters, people. Here in the North, we do not have Yahoo Yahoo people. What is happening in the North is hunger. People cannot feed, they can't fend for themselves.
Some cannot find one square meal to eat. Some of our people stay two days without eating. Our people should not be seen to be only useful during elections because of our numbers. When they get the power, they abandon the people and go back to Abuja and enjoy the national cake alone. It doesn't make sense.
You cannot just use them and dump them because you feel they are not important. No part of this country can survive without the North contributing. Today, we realise that if there are job opportunities, most of these political leaders give them to their cronies.
Children of senators, children of governors and children of traditional rulers among others are people they give jobs. Children of the poor who are even more qualified are denied opportunities. Where is the job for the common man?
It shouldn't be so. When there are appointments, they look for the son of a former governor or a former minister. It shouldn't be so. If we continue to go along that route, one day we will fall into a revolution. God forbid.
Apart from the current hardship, it is believed that political leaders in the North created the conditions that made poverty endemic in the region...
I have always said it that if our political leaders had done well, we wouldn't have found ourselves in this situation. It is artificial poverty created by some myopic leaders in the northern part of the country.
We have more governors and senators than any other part of the country. What laws are they making for the North and the best interest of the country? Why would you take the money you did not need? Why would you take money that was meant for development? How can an individual embezzle billions? This cannot continue.
With the tension, people now realise they have the power to challenge the system...
What that means is that people at the helm of affairs must realise it is no longer business as usual.
They need to realise that they have to come back and speak to our people and assure them of good governance. It can no longer be business as usual.
With what is happening, some of them would run away. May God not allow us to get to that point. People have realised they have power and that sovereignty belongs to them.
Being a governor does not make you king over the people. You are their servant.
If you are elected into any executive position, what it means is that the people surrendered their sovereignty to you to exercise on their behalf. That is what the people demonstrated with the protests. Where are the so-called leaders today?
The protests have shown them that they can't keep doing the same thing always. They must ensure there is free education for all so that our youths do not become time-bomb in society.
When you don't provide education for the children of the poor, your children who you sent abroad won't have peace when they return. You must provide for those who are not your children so that your children would have peace when they return.
In specific terms, what kind of quick fix do you think government should take?
There are short-term and long-term measures.
Government should quickly declare state of emergency on insecurity so that people can go back to the farms in the northern part of the country.
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If it can declare a state of emergency in the flashpoints, these bandits would be wiped out. When that is done, you have given people hope that they can fend for themselves. Education should be a priority for our governors and senators.
Everyone should have access to education. They should introduce programmes that would empower people and bring governance close to the people so that people can be productive at the end of the day. If this trend continues, nobody will sleep again including those in the South.
What do you make of claims that the protests, especially in the North are being sponsored?
If there is no template, can anybody come out and sacrifice his life? People are already frustrated. An idle mind is the devil's workshop.
When you allow people to live a life of hunger and frustration, if anyone gives them money, they would accept. It is easy to recruit hungry people for any purpose. Even the opposition that worked for the government and was not compensated can sabotage the government. The same happens to those within your party. Who you sideline can work against you.
Foreign powers are not even comfortable with our situation. Things must be put right. Government must be seen to do the right thing.
Illiteracy
Elected officials must see the education of northern people as a priority. State of emergency must also be declared on insecurity in other parts of the country. Government should also ensure that modern technology is introduced into farming to improve production so that people can fend for themselves.
If that is in place, nobody would recruit anybody into protests. In the North, we hardly react until we are pushed to the wall.
We don't behave like southerners who come out to protest always. When you push us to the wall, people would say" Let us die".
What do you make of the decision of the South-East not to participate in the protests?
They feel they don't have a problem, but we in the North have a problem. The North is experiencing hunger.
We, the stakeholders, know what we go through because we have something to do. Out of what we work for, we bring it to assist our people. But those who have appointments in government are only interested in their interests.
