Apparently angered by the recent attacks on the President, Former lawmaker , Senator Shehu Sani took a swipe at the former Kaduna and Rivers State governors , Mal Nasir Elrufai,who and Routine Amaechi ,who accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for initiating policies that heightened hunger and poverty across the country.
According to Shehu Sani, Elrufai and Amaechi should hold their heads in shame for failing to tackle same problems or insecurity; poverty and hunger during their days as Governors because they are the architects of banditry and hunger they talked about.
El-Rufai recently declared that Nigerians have allowed bandits to occupy positions of authority, while speaking at a Public Lecture to celebrate former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amechi, said, “What we have done in this country is to allow bandits, not the ones in the bushes, the urban bandits, to take over the governance of our country.”
However ,Shehu Sani who addressed journalists on State of the Nation at his Kaduna residence today, said all those who held public office and positions of authority under the former President Muhammadu Buhari don’t have the moral rights to speak about the issues of banditry, poverty and hunger because they failed to tackle them when in office.
He accused them of witch hunting and working against the Tinubu led government because they either failed to secure ministerial positions or appointed in the cabinet.
Speaking further he said ,”There is nothing wrong in criticizing a government or leader, but when it is done out of selfish interests rather genuine course it becomes a problem.
The Senator, who represented Kaduna Central zone at the 8th Senate, Shehu Sani, lambasted Elrufai and other leaders who controlled the affairs of the country, but failed to turn the Northern region into a socio-economic paradise over the years.
“Nigeria is not just a country; it is a country that came from horrible and terrible experiences as a nation. And we ought to learn from our past experiences in order not to repeat the same experience. So I want to call on the people to caution the elements who had the opportunity to turn the North into a paradise but left it as a hell; today, such elements are crying foul for no reason other than that they have been excluded from government.
“So their grievance is about their own personal interests and not about the people, not about the North, not about the masses, not about insecurity and governance. However, everybody has the right to voice their opinions, but it shouldn’t be done in such a way as to burn down the country.
“Under the last administration, all the security apparatus were of Northern extraction; they never stopped terrorism in the North, they never stopped banditry in the Northwest, they never stopped killings in Benue State, in Plateau, and most parts of North Central states.
“The insecurity in the North is not yet over. Bandits are still killing people; they are kidnapping people in Katsina State, they are still doing that in Zamfara State. There are major killings on the roads by bandits. But if we are going to compare it to where we are coming from, I think things are better. The Chief of Defence has relatively been able to bring peace to the southern part of Kaduna, which was neglected and abandoned when Governor Nasir El-Rufai was in power. We know the Birnin Gwari road; it used to be a road that was inaccessible because of banditry.
“Banditry happened every hour, not every day, for eight years along the Birnin Gwari road. Now people can travel day and night. When last did you hear of an attack since the attack on Kuriga school? When last did you hear of an attack on any school in the state? So for those of us, when you compare the government headed by someone who came from our own part of the country and the government headed by someone who is not from our own part of the country, I think it is important for those of us from the North to appreciate the relative progress they have made.
” We have seen many things that were brought in, and we only demand more. But my message is also to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that more should be done in terms of addressing challenges in the Northern part of Nigeria, and critics should be listened to, and where there are lies, they should be responded to. And this country will be great if there is development in all parts of Nigeria,” Shehu Sani said.
Middle-Belt Times 