Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of
Kano, northwest Nigeria has declared
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as
incompetent and incapable to fix
challenges of development in the
country.
Kwankwaso told northern elders who
visited his office that Nigeria is drifting
towards calamity because President
Jonathan lacks the competence to
manage the affairs of the country
appropriately.
The Governor, during a meeting with
the leadership of Northern Elders
Forum at the Government House, said
despite advice and observations from
respected leaders and leaders from
within and outside the country on how
to put Nigeria on the right track, the
presidency has insensitive.
“When we met with the president, as
Northern Governors, he told us that the
former US Secretary of State, Lady
Clinton, told him that as President he
has to look at the issue of the North
very critically. She noted that there
was an imbalance in terms of
patronage, appointments and sharing
of resources.
“He assured that he was looking at
those comments and that was why he
was delaying appointments into
boards and so on. Since that meeting,
we have not seen anything or changes
so it is my conclusion that the
President lacks the capacity and
courage to do the right thing”, the
governor stated.
He lamented that the federal budget is
heavily tilted in favour of one section of
the country, pointing out that a
situation where one section of the
country is suffering from illiteracy,
underdevelopment and misery while
the other section has more than
enough is not good for national unity.
The Governor maintained that a
situation whereby a section of the
country is given priority over other
areas is not in the best interest of all,
pointing out that it is high time for the
Federal Government to be sensitive to
what is being felt by the international
community.
“We have had enough crises in this
country and it is not right to plant
seeds for crisis in the future. Look at
the North East that was allocated N2
billion in the current budget. N2 billion
is what Mr. President allocated to non-
APC states for supporting him, while
N111 billion was allocated to the South
East and South-South. This is not
close to fairness”, the governor
argued.
He, however, said that his position on
current national issues is not premised
on religion, ethnicity or sectionalism
but stems from the desire to see that
every Nigerian, irrespective where he
comes from is treated without
discrimination, Kwankwaso asserted
that it is time for members of the
National Assembly to come out and
oppose injustice that is perpetrated by
the government.
The Governor noted that what is
happening in the country in terms of
poverty, insecurity and joblessness in
the North today should not be
happening in civilized societies,
appealing to the Federal Government
to listen to the voices of reason so as
to move the country in the right
direction.
Kwankwaso also noted that the
Northern Elders Forum is one body in
the North which has continuously
expressed concern over the way
Nigeria is being run under President
Jonathan.
He pledged to continue to work with all
people of good conscience to bring
about good governance in Nigeria.
Earlier, in their separate remarks, the
chairman of the forum, Alhaji Yusuf
Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano and
his deputy, Wanteregh Paul Unongo
explained that they are not satisfied
with current political developments in
the country, especially as they affect
the North.
They said the visit to Kwankwaso was
to identify with his achievements and
sterling leadership qualities as well as
to look at several issues that will bring
about responsible governance, unity
and even development of the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment