Sultan, CAN, JNI’s Wake Up Calls on Tinubu over Growing Citizens’ Discontent

John Shiklam writes on the high cost of living, insecurity, growing discontent among Nigerians and the wake up calls by traditional rulers and groups for urgent solutions to the problems.

Insecurity and rising cost of living are pushing Nigeria to the brink. In the past weeks, Nigerians have been agitated with the difficult state of the economy. Many Nigerians are becoming frustrated and hopeless by the day, due to skyrocketing prices of foodstuffs, essential goods and services, insecurity and the alarming rate of unemployment among millions of youths.

A 50kg bag of rice now cost about N80, 000. Prices of other staples such as beans, garri, maize, millet, etc, have also skyrocketed, beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. Government’s minimum wage is N30,000 Cost of transportation is high. Electricity supply is epileptic, leading to the collapse of many small businesses.

The continuous fall of the naira to the dollar has drastically weakened the purchasing power of the masses.

The growing rate of unemployment among millions of Nigerian youths is alarming and is a threat to peace and security.

Many parents cannot afford to sponsor their children to school, not to talk of the exorbitant cost of health care services. The situation is further worsened by wide spread insecurity accross the country occasioned by invasion of communities, killings, kidnapping for ransom and destruction of property by rampaging bandits almost on a daily basis.

Many farmers, especially, in the north can no longer go to farm for fear of bandits. Travelling on highways have become dangerous because of the activities of bandits.

Worst hit by the activities of bandits and kidnappers are Zamfara, Plateau, Taraba and Niger states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, where the headquarters of all the security agencies are located.

Nigerians have been finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.

There had been protests in some parts of the country over high cost of living and insecurity with citizens in Niger, Kano, Kogi, Ondo, Osun states and other states demanding solutions to the problems.

Market women in Lagos also protested over the same issues, calling on President Bola Tinubu, to urgently do something about the situation or face an uprising.

Prominent Nigerians and groups have expressed concern about growing discontent among Nigerians, urging the federal government to take urgent steps to ameliorate the situation before the country explodes.

A prominent traditional and religious leader, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, at a meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC), last Wednesday in Kaduna, declared that with the millions of unemployed youths, without jobs and food, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

Before the Sultan spoke, the Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, had sent a message to Tinubu through his wife that Nigerians are suffering.

The Emir asked the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who visited him in his palace in Kano to tell her husband that Nigerians are suffering due to the economic hardship in the country.

The First Lady, was in Kano to inaugurate a building named after her at the Faculty of Law, Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, (MAAUN) in Kano.

Bayero told the First Lady: “Although, we have several means of communicating to the government on our needs and requests, you are the surest way to tell the President the happenings in the country.

“We get information daily that essential commodities and cost of living are high and people are suffering, although it didn’t start with this government.

“We know the government is making efforts but it should redouble efforts to ease the suffering faced by the people.

“The issue of insecurity is another serious problem we are facing. I know your government inherited it but something more seriously should be done to take care of the threats.

“The hunger and starvation, though didn’t start with this government, but the situation has become more alarming and needs urgent attention”.

Also governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) compared Nigeria’s economic situation to that of Venezuela, a South American country bedeviled by escalating starvation, disease, crime, and high mortality rates.

In his address at the 6th Executive Council meeting of the NTRC, the Sultan said things are not working well in Nigeria, especially in the northern region.

Abubakar who is the chairman of the NTRC said insecurity and poverty are the two major issues that have been causing trouble in the north.

He lamented that Nigerians are deeply frustrated, hungry, and resentful about the current economic situation.

The Sultan said traditional rulers, have been talking to the people, calming them and assuring them that things will improve.

He however said, there is a limit to which the people will listen to the monarchs if the situation does not improve.

He recalled that the NTRC has had several meetings with the northern governors to discuss issues affecting the people of the north, but the problems have persisted.

He said, “We have had such meetings before with the Northern Governors, so many times at Kashim Ibrahim House. We have now entered into a new cycle of leadership, some new governors have come on board, while some are having their second term and still we are faced with these insecurity issues.

“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”, the Sultan said.

He said the current issues bedeviling the country is a continuation from the immediate past administration.

“I don’t think it is the issue of the 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”.

Speaking further, Abubakar said traditional rulers owe it a duty to the millions of people that believe in the traditional institution, to bring solutions to the various problems facing the country , assuring that monarchs will not fail in doing that.

“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?”, the Sultan wondered.

He said Nigerians should not be taken for granted because they are keeping quiet.

According to him, Nigerians are quiet because “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; we can’t quieten these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever”, he said.

According to him, “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.”

He said, traditional rulers, “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.”

The monarch called on government to create 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.”

He added that if traditional rulers are empowered by the constitution like governors and funded, they will contribute a lot in addressing some of the challenges facing the country.

He however said traditional rulers are ready to work wit 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.”

Groups like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province (IEP), had earlier cried out over the difficult times Nigerians are going through.

The Northern CAN, had in a statement issued in Kaduna by its Secretary General, Elder Sunday Oibe, said the suffering in the country is becoming unbearable for masses.

Oibe said, “High cost of foodstuffs, transportation, goods and services have made life difficult in Nigeria.

He said, “The epileptic power supply has led to the collapse of many small businesses.

A prominent traditional and religious leader, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, at a meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC), last Wednesday in Kaduna, declared that with the millions of unemployed youths, without jobs and food, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Before the Sultan spoke, the Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, had sent a message to Tinubu through his wife that Nigerians are suffering. The Emir asked the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who visited him in his palace in Kano to tell her husband that Nigerians are suffering due to the economic hardship in the country.