Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has declared that Nigerians have allowed bandits to occupy positions of authority.
El-Rufai, 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.”
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, he stressed the need for Nigerians to look at those offering themselves for leadership and pick those with competence, capability, capacity, and commitment to make Nigeria move forward.
“And I believe the celebrant Rotimi Amechi is one of the few ones that we can call capable, competent, and committed,” El-Rufai stated.
He said that Amaechi was disgruntled with him for not supporting him during the last primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC). “He said many people came to say, your brother is upset with you. I said, I know. Wait, when Nigeria is in bigger trouble, he will come and we’ll work together.
“So here we are, we are back together because Nigeria is in its biggest trouble since 1914. We are together working, conspiring to build a coalition to take Nigeria back on track because it is off track.”
Also speaking, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accused the current administration of weaponizing poverty. He said, “You may call me a conspirator; you may call me anything, and that is why we are in this alliance to make sure we don’t allow them to continue weaponising poverty. Of course, one of our star conspirators is former Governor Rotimi Ameachi.
“Therefore, we are here to wish you many happy returns of the day. And we will continue to conspire with you to make sure we minimise poverty and we don’t use state machinery to weaponise poverty.” The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, in his remarks, said the reality of the poverty in Nigeria is that the elites do not know what poverty is.
He said that in all his life as an economist, a banker, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, he never understood what poverty was until he became the Emir, saying the poverty in urban areas like Abuja, Lagos, and Kano is nothing compared to what is seen in the interior villages.
“Leaders need to ask themselves questions like, do we really love the people, or we just want to rule over them. We build overheads and underpasses in the urban areas, and we think we are developing, whereas some cannot get to the nearest hospital to get medical care because of bad roads. Yesterday, about 115 people died as a result of floods because there is no investment in emergencies.
“Because if you love them, they will not be uneducated, or malnourished, or die hungry.
“Those still saying Nigeria is not in crisis should wake up, we are living with banditry, insecurity, what is there to wait for. The real challenge is how to get out of it.”
THE GUARDIAN
