A former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has blamed the growing insecurity, especially in the northern part of Nigeria on the failure of the regime led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the ruling All Progressives Congresses, to fulfil their campaign promises. According to Lamido, Buhari and the APC allegedly lied to raise the hopes of Nigerian youths and take power from the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said failure to meet their aspirations is a major cause of restiveness in the country. Lamido spoke while featuring on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme on Channels Television.
He said, “What is the root causes of the security problems in Nigeria? Why are our own children – children who are under 25 – taking arms against their own kits and kin, going to villages to harass them, take over their livestock, burn their houses and even rape their women? What is the problem? This cannot alone be moral decadence? What has gone wrong?”
The ex-governor partly added, “Above everything else, it is about leadership. Leadership is very important. On the issue of Zamfara, why is the state becoming the hub of terrorism in Nigeria. Why?”
Responding to a question on the similarities between the terrorists in the North-East and bandits in the North-West, Lamido stated that crime was crime no matter the location or those involved.
He added, “The issue is that the government must be held accountable and I don’t want to sound too political, it is a matter of life. Attaining political power, the process must be very credible; it must be very transparent. A leader should be able to say, ‘I want to be in government because I will do this, this and that.’ When you ignore this and begin to tell lies and malign and blackmail others…
“When it was their time to get power in Nigeria in 2014 (ahead of the 2015 elections) and (they came up with) their ‘Change’ mantra … They knew they were telling lies. But for then, it was about getting the power. If they get the power, then they begin to ask, ‘what do we do?’ So, the process and the platform must be very honest; it must be very credible.
“It is this character of telling lies to the young generation. When you raise their hopes in trying to get government, and you are in government, by the time you fail to fulfil their needs, of course, there will be problems. So, these are simply the political consequences if telling lies in campaigns.”
