From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central in the eighth Senate, Senator Shehu Sani, has carpeted some northern political class for using the proposed tax reform bills of President Bola Tinubu against his possible re-election bid in 2027. According to him, the same people who were shouting against the tax reform bills were silent during the 96 months of former President Muhammadu Buhari because he is a northerner.
He spoke on these and other issues interest.
Why do you think prominent sons of Northern extraction, such as Senator Ali Ndume and Governor Bala Mohammed, among others, have been vehemently opposed to the proposed tax reform bills by President Bola Tinubu? What is the North afraid of?
The North is richly blessed with resources that it can exploit to develop its region. What the leadership of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello has been able to demonstrate is that the North has the capacity, the resources and the endowment to stand on its own and also to make a meaningful contribution to the Nigerian state.
I don’t like this idea that each time there is an economic policy, the first people to start opposing it are Northern leaders. How can a governor tell you that because of economic reform, he cannot be able to pay salaries? Everything that comes up, the South-West will not complain, the South-East and South-South will not complain. Always, it is the North that will complain and it is wrong. Northern Governors and other leaders must sit down and tell themselves the home truth and develop these key areas.
What are these key areas?
One, is to end the insecurity in the North. These bandits, these terrorists, these criminals that are killing and kidnapping people are not from Malawi. They are not from Namibia. They are people from the Northern part of Nigeria, and we all know them. So, the security problems and challenges in the North should be addressed by the people.
The second is agriculture. What we need to do as a region is to invest heavily in agriculture – in food crops and cash crops. How can a part of a country that is so blessed with such massive land resources, such as rivers, lakes, ponds and streams, be crying for no food or lack of food? It is wrong to do that. The North will be able to feed itself, feed Nigeria and feed the whole of West Africa if the leaders invest heavily in Agriculture.
The Third area is education. We must invest heavily in public education. Most of the leaders of Nigeria today were products of public schools.They had free primary school, free secondary school and free university education. They had scholarships, they travelled outside the country, they came back, and they were given jobs. Why can’t you give back to the society that has done so much for you?
Again, as far as Northern Nigeria is concerned, another area to explore is our natural resources. The natural resources that are beneath the ground in Nasarawa, beneath the ground in Kaduna, and beneath the ground in Niger State are enough to give us all the foreign exchange we need as a region of Nigeria. So, why are we so blessed and then we curse ourselves? How can you be sitting on a gold and then you are moving around with a plate of food to feed yourself? That is wrong. Nigeria is a part of our journey; it is a part of our history as a nation, and it is also a part of our lives. North has no reason to fear any reform. The North has no reason to be hungry. We have the population and resources; we have no reason to be poor.
I, therefore, want to use this opportunity to call on leaders from the North who have benefitted from Sardauna’s investments to look back and give back to the society. There is no President or Governor or lawmaker who have not benefitted from the benevolence of Nigeria.
Still, on the tax reform bills, President Bola Tinubu said in his recent media chat that the reforms have come to stay. But already, some of the top politicians from the North are saying that they will likely use that against his re-election in 2027, what is your position on that?
Well, as far as I am concerned, the North should reorganise itself and see how the Northerners who are in Asiwaju’s government can contribute to its development.
How do you mean?
He has given all the key institutions and ministries to the North. A Northerner from Kaduna State is the Chief of Defence staff. A Northerner from Adamawa State is the National Security Advisor. A Northerner is the minister of Agriculture, and also the minister of State for Agriculture. A Northerner is the minister of Defence and also minister of State for Defense from Jigawa and Zamfara States respectively. Until now, a Northerner was the Minister of Education.
Let us tell ourselves the home truth. When our own was in power for 96 months, what did he do? For all the failures, people kept quiet. They refused to hold him to account. They refused to criticise him. They refused to say we voted for you and you failed. For eight years, he couldn’t construct any major road to Northern Nigeria. He spent eight years, yet he couldn’t activate the Mambila power plant. He spent eight years; he couldn’t revive or dredge the River Niger. He spent eight years; he couldn’t dualise the Abuja -Kaduna- Kano express route. He spent eight years; he couldn’t dualise the Kano, Kaduna, and Lagos express route. He spent billions of naira in the name of agriculture for which there is nothing to show for it. He appointed Northerners into offices and they have not served the interests of the North. So, if you cannot hold your son to account, if you kept quiet, if you remain silent, if you folded your arms during Buhari’s administration, what conscience do you have now to threaten someone else with re-election?
You were with the embattled staff of the dwindling New Nigerian Newspapers (NNN), where you celebrated the new year with them with food, drinks and cash donations; what is your interest?
My interest in the newspaper is first and foremost, how can we resuscitate this legacy? How can we keep alive this seed that has been planted for us? I don’t believe that people say newspapers are not thriving. If not, why is the New York Times thriving? Why is the Washington Times thriving? Why is the Los Angeles Times thriving? Why is The Punch thriving? Why is Guardian? Why are Tribune, The Sun, and all these papers thriving? Why are they still functioning? Most of our leaders who benefitted from the North have poor parents who would not have been able to afford the education they have. It is now that some of them have more wealth that they are sending their children to go and school abroad and even go for medical tourism. The situation of NNN is not from God, it is man-made because there is no reason for the NNN to be what it is today. It is not all about the changing world because we still have a lot of newspapers in circulation.
So, I believe that with the right leadership, NNN will bounce back. We are going to make a renewed effort to bring back the glory of NNN. As long as we are alive, NNN is not going to die. I want to encourage the staff to remain hopeful.
