Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the late Premier of the Northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, as an exceptional icon not only in enhancing the business sector but also in governance.
He said the late Sardauna of Sokoto’s sterling leadership qualities would remain indelible in the political lexicon of the nation.
“His love for talakawa, humility, punctuality and generous contributions to mankind is highly commendable,” he said.
Osinbajo said this at a special lecture organised by the Sardauna Memorial Foundation titled “Reviving the Northern Traditional Institutions: Imperatives for Peace and Security in the North” held at the Coronation Hall Government Kano on Tuesday.
He further said: “The emirate system in northern Nigeria is a well-structured institution which was the handwork and legacy of Sardauna of Sokoto.
“The traditional institutions were enjoying the confidence of the people and were held in the highest esteem because they were responsible to the yearnings of their people.”
According to him, the issue of good governance and leadership in a democratic setting entails a commitment and doggedness of a leader who can at all times strive to safeguard the same at all cost.
While speaking on the spate of insecurity rocking the northern part of the country, the vice president gave the assurance that the federal government is working to ensure that those apprehended as a result of their respective involvements were speedily prosecuted in line with the laws of the country.
He said: “We are not unmindful of the present trauma the people of the north are currently undergoing. We are very much concerned about the future of our children and we are doing all we can to protect what we believe is in their best interests. The issue of banditry is not peculiar to Nigeria alone knowing the prevailing trend the world over.
“The need for re-strategisation in the way we are doing in spheres of governance and leadership has also become imperative. We would continue to fail in our responsibility if we have not addressed knotty issues affecting the nation. We should all believe that Nigeria belongs to every Nigerian irrespective of one’s ethnic or religious background.”
The vice president further pointed out that traditional institutions are indispensable in making the nation secure.
He, however, stated that there is also the compelling need for the constitution to be reviewed in order to accommodate traditional authorities in view of the spectacular role they are playing in dousing tension and crisis at a time when such efforts were proving difficult.
Earlier, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Sardauna Memorial Foundation and former Niger State Governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said the myriad of woes afflicting the north in particular in the face of the security challenges have almost become intractable.
He added that the late Ahmadu Bello lived a worthy life which those in positions of authority ought to emulate with commitment and vigour.
He, however, said unless a clear paradigm shift is effected in correcting the present ills that are turning the hands of the clock backward, the north would continue to into an abyss of backwardness and degradation, positing that no one could ever be safe with persistent insecurity taking a heavy toll on the region.
Speaking on the occasion, the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, extolled the sterling qualities of the late premier whom her said led by example and was devoid of primordial sentiment, affirming that if not for what he had done to the region, it would continue to remain at the lower rank of the ladder.
Also speaking, the Emir of Lafiya in Nasarawa State, Sidi Bage, said northern Nigeria has been degraded by kidnapping for ransom and expressed worry that the situation requires immediate attention.
This was just as he said that all state Houses of Assembly must create a special role by giving legal backing to traditional leadership.
He then asked the federal government and the nation’s elites to renew their social contracts with Nigerians to address the insecurity bedevilling the country.
Shortly after the programme, Prof Osinbajo visited the residence of the former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), late Alhaji Bashir Tofa, where he described late Tofa as fearless as a patriot and democratic man.
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