The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar of Sokoto and Chairman Northern on Wednesday lamented the economic hardship in the country, saying that Nigerians are deeply frustrated and hungry.
He also expressed concern about the millions of unemployed youths, without jobs and food noting that it poses serious danger.
The traditional ruler spoke at the 6th executive committee meeting of the NTRC which held in Kaduna
According to him, insecurity and poverty are the major issues causing trouble for the people of the north.
The sultan regretted that the NTRC have had similar meetings on several occasions with the northern governors , “still we are faced these security issues.
He said, “To make matters worse, we are faced with rising levels of poverty of most of our people; a lack of normal sources of livelihood for the common man to have even a good meal a day.
“But 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…
“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”.
The sultan said traditional rulers owe it a duty to millions of Nigerians who believe in the traditional institution to bring solutions to the various problems facing the country.
“I have said so many times, that we never lack a solution to our problems, what we lack is implementation, because we meet today, we bring out so many beautiful ideas on how to solve our problems, and we go back to our various places and go to bed, leaving such solutions here in this conference hall. So, how do we implement them?” He asked.
He said the meeting will come up with various suggestions on how to resolve the numerous problems in the North.
He said, “Education is important, so whatever issue you want to bring 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 that is insecurity and poverty.
“And let’s not take it for granted; people are quiet, they are quiet for a reason because people have been talking to them.
“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 we no longer believe in you, because that would be the biggest problem because we can’t quieten these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.
“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, people are hungry, they are 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 assuring 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 sit 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, 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 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”.
