Northern Nigeria Shouldn’t Have Business With Poverty — VP Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that it’s wrong to insinuate that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has neglected the Northern region.

He said the Northern region has no business with poverty as Almighty Allah has blessed the region with everything.

He spoke in an interview with the Radio France RFI Hausa Service; monitored by our correspondent in Kaduna on Sunday.

Commenting on the Protest, he said “In my understanding, we are in a democracy and democracy has given a citizen the right to voice his grievances but in a peaceful manner. What we are running away from is politicians with bad intentions and hoodlums to cause a commotion that would lead to anarchy. That’s what we’ve been running from and unfortunately, it happened. “

“But the President is a complete politician who will never deny any citizen his rights. But what happened was quite unfortunate and disturbing to the society, and to the Government how things happened.”

On the problems debilitating the North and whether the Government has anything in stock for the region, the Vice President said “Really, the Government has good intentions to help our people in the North.”

“We have a foundation that will assist in the field of agriculture and 100 billion was put aside for that purpose.We intend to assist 500 million farmers. You and I know that the majority of the farmers are in the North. Furthermore,it’s due to the love for our people that the President established the Ministry of Livestock and we all know the majority of the livestock herders are in the North. Also, from the government’s food reserves, we brought out about 42,000 tons of food because of the high cost of living and high cost of foodstuff. We want to bring an end to our people’s suffering.”

“For Government workers, you know there’s an increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000. Also, I would like to reiterate to our people that the President has good intentions and has been commending them. In shaa Allah ( by the will of Allah), whatever step that should be taken, that will be done to help them. We know they are in hardship. We commiserate with them.

On whether they were aware of how the people were suffering since the oil subsidy was removed, Alhaji Kashim Shettima said “These people are our friends, our neighbours. They are our politicians.”

“Wallahi, Wallahi Wallahi ( he swears) we know what they are going through. But what is happening is that the mistake of the last 63 years, we’ve just spent one year in office. But in the tradition entails in governance, one would not say it’s those in the past that erred. Whether good or bad, we are the current leaders and we are the ones who should take the steps to help our people. We would do so, in shaa Allah.”

Reacting to the allegation that the Tinubu administration was more concerned about the South than the North, the Vice President said to his understanding, it was politicians who were saying so.

“If the truth shall be told, out of 46 Ministers,24 are from the North. Since we’ve gotten our independence till date, go and investigate, there was never a government where huge government parastatals, from Defense to agriculture, Education, and health were the North in need, who is manning these sectors? Look at the Ministry of Defence, Minister Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar is not from Badagry. He is from Babura in Jigawa. The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle Maradun is not from Mushin.He is an indigene of Maradun in Zamfara.”

“Who is the Minister of Agriculture? Abubakar Kyari. He is not from Ekiti, he hails from Mobbar in Northern Borno. How about the Minister of State, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, he is from Borgu.So, some of these allegations are baseless. The Minister of Education is not from Akoko.Tahir Mamman is from Adamawa. How about the Minister of State, Dr.Yusuf Sunono is from Yauri, not Yewa? So where does this allegation come from?”

“It should be known also, that the President established the Ministry of Livestock for the development of the sector in the North. Who are the animal herders? He also okay the establishment of the North West Development Commission for the uplifting of our people in the North West Zone. There are other several things on the ground.”

“If you look at the Minister of Petroleum, Minister of Gas, they are from the South. But who heads the NNPC? Mele Kolo Kyari. Kyari, even if you heard that name in America, is from Borno. If you go to the Ministry of Marine Transport, Blue Economy, big parastatals under this ministry like the Nigerian Port Authority, the head is Abubakar Tsoho from Taraba. The head of the Shipper’s Council… is from Benue. If you go to the Ministry of Communication, the Minister is indeed a Yoruba man but the huge parastatals there like Nigerian Communication Commission,the Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Wada Maida is a Katsina man.Who heads NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi.”

“So what we are saying, is this does not start today. Just yesterday Rt. Hon Aminu Bello Masari was appointed to head TETFUND, former Governor of Katsina State.”

“So the President loves the North and is grateful to the North. 63% of the votes came from the North and he is very proud of us. He is grateful and honestly, he’s being kind to us. But when it comes to politics no matter what you did, your opponent would always look for where to criticise. There will be a time when we shall mount the drum to talk, to explain whether he kind or not.”

He said the Ministries that get a big chunk of the budget were all headed by ministers of Northern extraction.

On how he was using his office as Vice President to ensure that Northerners are treated fairly,he said very soon all they will convene a meeting with the. Northern Governors, wealthy Northerners, their politicians and other stakeholders, irrespective of religion or tribe, to find a way out of the economic and security problems debilitating the North.

“We have no business with poverty in the North. Allah has blessed us with everything. We shall with our wealthy Northerners like the richest black man in the world, Aliko Dangote, Alhaji AbdulSamad, Dahiru Mangal, Alhaji Muhammad Ndimi, Gen T Y Danjuma, AYM Shafa,AA Rano…..all the rich tycoons from all parts of the North, and our Northern political leaders who have the North at heart,….we shall sit down and it’s not going to be a tea party, ..we shall get a genuine commitment from these Northerners and in shaa Allah, there is going to be unity and a good way forward for the North,” he said.