The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has expressed fear that with millions of Nigerian youths left without jobs and food, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. This came two days after the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, had decried the ravaging hunger and starvation in the land. Speaking at the 6th Executive Committee Meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council yesterday in Kaduna, the Sultan said the economic hardship in Nigeria had reached a level where citizens were agitated, angry, and hungry. He said: “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 the rising level of poverty. Most of our people lack normal sources of livelihood.
"However, I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay. I have said it so many times and at so many fora that things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the North,"
The sultan exonerated President Tinubu while noting that the sorry state of the nation was the continuation of the last administration of the All Progressives Congress under ex-president Muhammadu Buhari.
“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,” Abubakar said.
The Sultan warned that Nigerians’ quietness in the face of these challenges must not be taken for granted.
In a related development Northern traditional rulers and the Nigeria Bar Association on Wednesday decried the hardship in the country precipitated by the fuel subsidy removal which had resulted in higher transport costs and food inflation.
The duo mentioned above asked the federal government to swiftly address the situation just as President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday hold a closed-door meeting with state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, to proffer solutions to the economic crisis in the country.
