The recent APC primaries in Niger state was not without crisis. Don’t you think it would affect the party in the next general elections in 2019?
It is true, some of the APC faithful that lost in the recently concluded primaries were not happy. Naturally, it ought to be so. But then as human beings, we have to be rationale sometimes and address issues as they come. The present attitude of some of them needs to be reviewed in the interest of the party. They have to be loyal members of the party and accept defeat. After that, they must come together and join hands so that in 2019, the party will coast to victory. They should know this is very fundamental. If they think they are frustrating the party or the government of His Excellency, AbubakarSani Bello, the fact of the matter is that they are deceiving themselves. Notwithstanding, I think In Niger State today, APC is in absolute control. The seemingly crisis in the state chapter will soon be over. The governor is working hard to ensure that aggrieved members are pacified.
But don’t you think they were victimised and to ask them to stop complaining is amounting to depriving them of their rights?
All I want to say to my aggrieved brothers is let them sheath their swords and be magnanimous in defeat. This is because the APC in the state is a family. As family members, it behoves on them to express their areas of grievances but in a civilised way instead of openly venting their secrets on the streets. If you are a member of a family and certain decisions were taken, and you were not happy over that decision would you say you will opt out of the family? Sometimes, we must accept decisions that go against our interest for peace to reign. Were they victimised? No I don’t think so. As I explained earlier in every contest they are losers and winners. In our case we are all winners. No victor!.No vanquish!!.
How are you looking at the 2019 elections?
To be candid with you, the elections will be peaceful. In Niger State, all hands must be put on deck to ensure rancour-free elections. We are ready for the elections. And I want to tell you the APC remains the party to beat. Apart from that, my only concern is the Press. Yes! Journalists! Journalists are very critical stakeholders towards a making or marring the success of the polls. What am I saying? Journalists should not allow themselves to be used by desperate politicians. They should always verify their facts before going to the press. What is happening now is very dangerous. Most journalists have taken sides. Journalists should remain neutral and do their work faithfully. They should not jeopardise the elections. Journalists should help in ensuring we have peaceful polls. In addition, other thorny issues are the fake news being circulated in social media. This is another dangerous trend. We saw that during the last elections. It was divine intervention that we had peaceful polls. The issue of hate speech being promoted by some selfish politicians should be treated with utmost care. In short, most of the crisis we are witnessing today emanated from fake news or hate speech.
What makes you think your boss, the Governor of Niger State, AbubakarSani Bello, deserves a second term?
Within the year under review, the governor has done alot, contrary to some critics who thinks, he has not done much. But the handwriting is very clear. For the purpose of this discussion, I shall take some few sectors to X-ray his achievements within the period under review. For instance, in education, the government adopted the ‘wholesome approach ‘to tackle the decay in education. By this we did not embark on the construction of more or additional schools but rather we concentrate on the renovated of old existing ones and equipping them with chairs and tables. Some of these schools since their establishment some 40 years, are in dire need of rehabilitation and unfortunately successive governments in the state have done nothing to renovate or provide facilities that will aid teaching. Apart from that, the government of Sani Bello established a Teacher’s training institute at Mararaba Dandaudu at the cost of N1.8bn. It is a training institute meant to train and retrain teachers. Both private as well as public schools send their unqualified teachers for training. For us in Niger state we will not sack our teachers but instead we will continue to train them.
In agriculture, the Niger State government has equally done alot in this sector. For instance, the state government had purchased and distributed over 150 tractors to farmers across the local government areas. It has also provided over 350,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer to farmers. This effort has yielded alot of positive things. For instance, many farmers have cultivated enough to feed their families as well as to take to the market. In Niger state this farming season was good to the farmers inspite of flood that ravaged some communities. So, in essence, there was enough food in the state this year. Also, the state government disbursed the sum of N2.bn to women co-operative societies in order to empower thousands of rural women. The good news is today hundreds of our rural who benefitted from the scheme have set up small business enterprises in their respective areas. The same in health sector. We have provided health care equipment in all the 274 wards in the state. The state government had equally equipped the state specialist hospital. Earlier, the hospital was left without facilities but with the coming of the present government, the hospital was equipped with modern facilities.Our women and children are now the greatest beneficiaries as they can now be attended to in the hospital. Taking all these into account and many more, it has put the governor Abu ‘lolo’ ahead of those who wanted to contest with him. It is therefore, safe to say he deserves a second term in order to enable him to consolidate what he started.
The recent flood has left many communities in deplorable conditions. What effort is your government making to alleviate their sufferings?
The flood disaster was unfortunate. But we did not rest and we are not resting. For instance, immediately the calamities occurred, the governor visited these communities to commiserate with the victims of the flood disaster. He invited the federal government to assess the level of damaged witnessed in these areas. The Vice president, Osibanjo came and commiserated with the victims. Both the Federal and state governments sent relief materials to the victims.
The issue of security is one of the challenges facing the state but of recent the state seems to be enjoying relative peace. What do you think is responsible?
The governor doesn’t joke when it comes to security matters. When the issue of kidnapping, rustling, banditry became rampant, he set up a committee which looked into the issues. The governor tasked them to be fair and just to all the warring parties involved in the crisis. Through this approach, the state government was able to bring peace to the state. Even though, there were pockets of security challenges in some places like SarkinPawa, alawaetc, but the governor invited the military for their support that was howsanity was brought in these troubled areas. In addition, the state government recruited about 2,500 members of the vigilante to complement the role of security agencies in the state. At Kamfanibodi, government had acquired a vast area of land to put an end to the issue of farmers and herders crisis. The government had concluded plans to erect shops, provide social infrastructures and markets for the farmers and herders.
On a lighter note, how is the governor contending with the presence of two former heads of states in his state. Are they not making his job difficult?
Well, the relationship between the governor and the two former Nigerian leaders has been robust and cordial. Don’t forget General Absulsalam Abubakar is his father in-law, while General Ibrahim Babangida is a very good friend of the governor’s father Col. Sani Bello. That’s does not mean they would not have individual differences. But the fact of the matter, the governor knows how to relate with them. He seeks their advice and support when the situation warrants . I think, he doesn’t have any problem with them. He knows they are blessings to the state and the country at large.
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