Hunger Protest: It’s Red Flag For Northern Govs – Gov Sule

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has described the recent hunger protest in the north as a red flag that must not be ignored by all the State governors in the region.

Specifically referring to the situation in Nasarawa State where he noted that majority of the protesters were almajiris who did not even know the meaning of the protest, Governor Sule said the development is indeed a wake-up call for all stakeholders.

The governor, who made the submission in an interview on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said the governors must importantly address the issue of out-of-school children to get it right.

According to him; “The protest in the north is a wake-up call for us as leaders. Our region is good in agriculture. Everyone of us should go back to the field. For me the background is there. I managed the Savannah Sugar company. I was the chairman of all the companies that are producing sugar in Nigeria. I am familiar with agriculture. I love agriculture. I have my personal farms. In Nasarawa we have 5,000 hectares. We are going to do our first harvest.

“The next meeting we should have as governors of Northern Nigeria will no longer be a meeting where you will say religion has forbidden me to do this. God has gifted us this leadership. If we don’t go out to say this has to be done right.”

Speaking on the ongoing #EndBadGovernance and hunger protest that has seen the eruption of violence in some parts of the north, Governor Sule said; “During the last protest in Lafia, majority of those who came out to the street were almajiris. Some of them are five-year-old. Others were seven-year-old. A lot of them did not even understand the meaning of the protest. They didn’t even know what they were protesting against.

“When we moved to address the issue of almajiris, some religious leaders criticized it.”

“But from what is happening now nobody will criticize it. Otherwise it will come as a time bomb and consume all of us”, he warned.