The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima is obviously an unapologetic member and supporter of the Senator Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration, which he should of course, be.

He is also known to be a promoter of, not only the peace and progress of the nation, but an ardent supporter of same to the Northern region.

He has always been campaigning for, and asking the Nigerian people to exercise a little more patience with the present government, as it does not mean to bring any hardships to the people of the country with its economic policies, but to advance the nation’s and their interests. As he is wont of saying, the measures will achieve their goals in the not too distant future.

The Vice President has persistently called on the north to sit up, as the Federal Government means well and is ready to come to the aid of the region, which thus informed his recent call on all the rich people in the area to to team up with the government in order to revive its collapsed infrastructure, especially the textiles, and the farming, which is constantly being threatened by bandits, among other areas of the commanding heights of the economy, of both federal and regional governments.

I ‘knew’ the number two citizen in the country through a mutual acquaintance from the time he was the commissioner of finance in Borno state. The acquaintance was Alhaji Isa Gusau, now deceased. He was working as a reporter and I as the Group Political Editor of the Daily Trust, then three tittles. I was part of the team that sent him to Maiduguri as a correspondent of the Daily Trust.

As a person who was humble enough to admit his shortcomings in writing, Alhaji Isa Gusau once sent back the money prize he received from Daily Trust as the ‘reporter of the month’. He said that it belonged to me because of the ‘serious work’ (editing) done on the (his) article before it was published to earn him the prize money. And he knew it was me who did the job, he added. I sent back the money and told him to keep, because what I did was part of my job. He remained grateful for that until his death.

He was in the habit of introducing me as ‘my boss’ at every gathering of journalists, and kept in the same habit of introduction even when he became the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the then Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, now the Vice President of Nigeria. He spoke of the governor in flowery language, describing him as ‘one of the best things to happen to Borno state’.

Anyway, this is the calls this writer has persistently made in many of his write ups, urging the very wealthy people in the region to support the Federal and state governments to help the area to speedily redevelop itself. This is far more important than lamentations behind the scenes. 

Specifically, I mentioned the trio of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Ahaji AbdusSamadu Rabi’u and Ahaji Dahiru Bara’u Mangal, the three richest people from the north western part of the country, and each of whom owned a cement producing company in Kogi state, in addition to many of their businesses across the globe.

 

To support this assertion, the Vice President might want a glimpse at one of the many articles I wrote on the subject, on the second day of the month of August, 2024, titled: ‘An Open Letter To President Tinubu and Northern Leaders: The North Needs A Better Deal’. In the open letter, I noted the collapse of almost all the industries and farming activities that were the main contributors of income to both the region and the federal governments. I  also noted that all that was in the past, as most the industries have collapsed due to some factors, notably the absence of SUFFICIENT POWER to power them for maximum performance and efficiency in production. 

I also expressed in the article that it was not possible to run a successful big scale business using generators to supply the needed electricity to power them. Full power needed to run the industries, as most of the essential things needed in the north and the country at large is mostly produced in the southern part of Nigeria.

 

I had earlier penned an open letter to the duo of Dangote and AbdusSamadu to team up with other wealthy individuals in the north to build the sector back to its old glory, since it appeared to be left very far behind by the southern axis of this country.

There are so many insinuations about the north being a drag on the other sections of the country in the march towards total economic liberation. From the northern point of view, the region’s backwardness is made even worse by the perceived ‘deliberate) policy of the federal government to render the area completely bereft of redemption. The alleged idea behind this was to make a point for the split of the country into two  with the south going its way as a prosperous ‘country’ and the north going on the opposite direction as a very poor nation of ‘beggars’

The reference to beggars is the fact that the north, has what is seen to be as the world’s concentration of beggars, plying their ‘trade’ on the streets and in homes, to the detriment of the image of the area and its people. There is also a hidden attempt to create a chasm between Muslims and none Muslims in the north, so as to keep it perpetually at war with itself, while the other side continues with its match towards progress.

The earlier this is realised by all thinking adults the better for the area, which is buffeted by insecurity caused by the unholy activity of Biko Haram and the bandits. It is also perceived to be the action of the enemies of the region, some of which are thought to be compatriots who do not wish the area well.

Seen in this light and more, the Vice President’s call on the money bags from the north to team up with the federal government to revive the industrial sector in the region, is very timely. But there is the need for him to follow it up with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, as we approach 2027, the year of the National Election. The north has the numbers to make  up all the difference it so pleases, but it requires a federal leadership that cares.

On their part, the Dangotes, the Danjumas (TY), the AbdusSamadus, the Mangals, and the many more of their type, it is time to heed the call of the number two citizen in the country to come together and save the north. All of you owe that to the people of the area and the nation, as your collective ‘corporate responsibility’.

Meanwhile, the Alhaji Isa Gusau reminiscence remained me of another friend in the same pen pushing profession, who is also late, Alhaji Imam A Imam. Then (also) a Special Adviser to the then Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Honourableh Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Alhaji Imam came to the aid of yours sincerely when both of us escorted our respective bosses to Ogbomosho, Osun State, to represent their north west counterparts to condole with the then Governor, Malam Rauf Aregbesola over the death of his mother.

As Alhaji Imam and myself entered the same vehicle to take us back to Ilorin Airport, the Ogbomosho members of the chattering class met us and requested for the proverbial ‘brown envelope’, a request that nearly put me on the spot, but for his quick intervention of swiftly giving them the hefty amount of N250,000K, telling them that the money was on behalf of the two of us. I mused to myself, thinking that I wished the money was given to me instead of the journalists, because I went to Ogbomosho with empty pockets.

May Allah make us contented with the little that we have, and protect us from taking what belongs to the Commonwealth or another individual who is unaware that he has been skimmed off by us.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.