Nigeria Dangerously Sitting On Keg Of Gunpowder — Sultan Abubakar Warns

The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said that Nigeria is dangerously sitting on gun power as millions of youths are without jobs just as they cannot afford.

He stressed that to make matters worse, Nigerians are faced with the rising level of poverty, a lack of normal sources of livelihood for the common man to have even a good meal a day.

The Sultan warned that leaders should not take it for granted that people are quiet, adding that they are quiet for a reason because people have been talking to them.

In the words of the Sultan; “We have been talking to them, we have been trying to tell them things will be okay, and they keep on believing.

“I pray to Almighty Allah that they will not one day wake up and say that they no longer believe in you. Because that would be the biggest problem because we can’t silence these people as traditional spiritual leaders and diplomats forever,” he stressed.

Alhaji Abubakar said that this was not the time to hide anything in the country, particularly now that people are agitated, very hungry and angry,

The Sultan who stated these on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at the 6th Executive Committee meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council which took place at Arewa House, Kaduna, pointedly said that things are just not okay in Nigeria and with Nigerians, stressing that the two monsters that have been harassing Northerners are insecurity and poverty.

The Sultan, who was flanked at the meeting by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, and the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, said that Nigeria has now entered into a new circle of leadership with some new governors on board, while others are in their second term, but the North in particular is still faced with insecurity issues.

In his words; “But, I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues on which we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay. I have said so many times and at so many forums that things are not okay in Nigeria, and of course, things are not okay in the North.

“What are the real issues bringing about poverty and rising cases of insecurity? I don’t think it is the issue of a new government. 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.

“We owe it a duty to the teeming millions of people that believe in the traditional institution to bring solutions to the various problems facing them. We will not fail in doing that. We will do our best.

“I have said so many times that we never lack solutions to our problems; what we lack is implementation. Because we met today, we brainstormed so many beautiful ideas on how to solve our problems that we went back to our various places and went to bed, leaving such solutions here in this conference hall.

“So, how do we implement them? This is why we invited the Leadership Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) to come and interact with us on the outcome of a similar meeting they organised in Abuja. We also invited the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to be part of us and talk to us too, because as elders, some of whom have been in politics, they have done a lot for the North and the country.

“At the end of the meeting, we believe we will come up with various suggestions on how to resolve our numerous problems in the North. Education is important, so whatever issue you want to bring to us here, you must talk about education, you must talk about health issues, and of the two monsters that have been harassing all of us here, they are insecurity and poverty.

“So, I think it is good we talk about these things and let us be very honest with ourselves; let us be very frank about what we are going to tell ourselves here; it is no time to hide things. We have reached that level. People are very agitated, hungry, and angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them.

“They believe in some of their governors, some other traditional rulers, and some of their religious leaders. Fortunately, some of us double as traditional and religious leaders. So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calming them down, and reassuring them things will be okay, and they should continue to pray and pray and still do something good because prayer without work will not bring anything.

“We must find jobs for our teeming youths that are sitting idle, and I have said it so many times: we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder, having teeming youths, millions of them, without jobs, without food, we are looking for trouble.

“We are only advisers to the political leaders; that is all we can do, but if we are empowered and as strong as the governors by the constitution and by the amount of funds they get from the federal and state revenues, we can also do a lot.

“However, we are ready to work with the governors because we believe in them, we believe in what they are doing, and we must work with them. And if the governors too want to have peace and stability in their states, they must work with the traditional leaders,” he said.