Shehu Sani decries high rate of poverty, illiteracy in north

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The former senator who represented Kaduna Central in the Senate, Comrade Shehu Sani has decried the high rate of poverty and educational backwardness in the north, asking President Muhammadu Buhari to do something urgent to remedy the trend.
He made the assertion during a conference held to Prepare Emerging Leaders in Kaduna yesterday.
The former lawmaker added that the north is under time bomb. He therefore called on President Buhari to come out with sound policies which will address the high-level poverty and educational challenge in the region and the country at large.
Shehu Sani further said the north is tolerating bad governance, because one of their own, is in power, saying the region have failed to hold President Buhari accountable, despite the unabated killings and destruction of properties in the region.
“The North is tolerant of bad government because Buhari is in government and he is from the north.
“When powers move to the south , the north is good in holding leaders to account and when it moves to the North, we keep silent.
“We are shy , we are cautious, we are afraid of telling our own that the road in the north is bad.
“We are more courageous to tell the truth to power when the president doesn’t come from our region.
“Questioning President (Buhari) is more sympathetic when people ar killed in the southwest than in the north and this is because, the (South)are holding him to account.
“Here in the north, you don’t because they are shy . they believe he is infallible and that he cannot be called to question.
“If 50 people were killed in Katsina and representative of the state is not ready to standup in the senate to talk about his people being killed, then it will go on and nobody will know.
“But if your people are dying here and the people you elected are afraid of being embarrassed and they don’t want to be categorized as been disloyal and be seen in the bad book , they will kill as many as possible and the perception of people outside is that all is well.
“So the north must not be docile because one of his own is in office, Comrade Sani emphasized.
“For this country to survive, president Buhari must listen to the voices of reason. You may not like the face of Wole Soyinka, Balarabe Musa, and Obasanjo but read through the content of what they have written and see where adjustment can be made.
“President Buhari must be interested in his legacy and he has only four years. In any government after two years there will be heat and once the heat starts , you will not be able to concentrate and do your work.”