The Northern Youths Movement (NYM) has described leaders of the
opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, like the former Governor of
Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who are giving the party’s
presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, false confidence rather
than telling him the truth as his real enemies.
The youths, who agreed with Alhaji Lamido that it is uncultured to
openly call an elder a liar, added that it is also against our culture
for elders to lie openly.
According to a release issued in Abuja on Sunday, which was signed by
its Chairman, Mallam Ishaya Jato, the NYM said “age and grey hairs
will only be honorable when elders stop lying openly and tell
themselves the basic truth that is required of people who are desirous
of fostering unity.”
They said negative comments on the River State Governor, Nyesom Wike,
by Alhaji Lamido was becoming distasteful and unbecoming of an elder,
who genuinely wants electoral victory for his party.
Even though we are not out to defend Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers
State or anyone, we are constrained to respond to Alhaji Sule Lamido’s
incessant diatribe against the governor because we don’t want it to
appear like he is speaking for the North and that we in the North are
power arrogant.
To us, the chances of the North retaining the presidency after 2023 is
being destroyed by the likes of Alhaji Lamido, and the earlier they
are called to order, the better.
Lying elders like those acting as Atiku’s ‘attack dogs’ are more
uncultured in the face of God, law and society and they must be told
to hold their peace before they cause further damages.
This is more so that these people will be of little or no help for
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in terms of votes and election funding.
In 2011, even with Alhaji Lamido as a sitting Governor, PDP lost
Jigawa State to President Mohammadu Buhari’s CPC with close to 200,000
votes. PDP had 491,252 votes while CPC had 663,994 votes.
The same thing happened in 2015 when PDP lost in Jigawa State with
over 700,000 votes. PDP had 142,904 votes while APC had 885,988 votes.
With Atiku as PDP candidate in 2019, Alhaji Lamido still could not
deliver Jigawa State to the PDP. APC got 794,738 votes as against
PDP’s 289,895. In other words, PDP lost Alhaji Lamido’s Jigawa State
with 504,843 votes.
So, where is the confidence Alhaji Lamido and his likes giving Atiku
coming from? Shouldn’t elders like Alhaji Lamido be reconciliatory
rather than further fanning embers of discord by deliberately rubbing
salt on an injury caused by people who were only driven by personal
hatred for an individual, not the overall interest of the North in
particular and Nigeria as a whole?
