***Says Era of using religion, Ethnicity as identity in the North is over
Former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism and Chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger State, Hon. Jonathan Vatsa has taken a swipe at an Islamic Cleric Ahmed Gumi describing his recent claim on Abuja as that of a person living in the past who has lost touch with the current reality in the country, especially in the north.
Nigerians have been reacting over the recent attack on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike by the Cleric, over claim that the region belongs to the North and hence, the Minister of FCT, is their exclusive
The former Commissioner in an interview with our correspondent in Minna, the Niger State capital while reacting to Gumi’s outburst against Wike, said the Cleric’s engagement with Bandits in the forest has made him lose touch with the reality in the north, stressing that the era of using ethnic and religious identity to attract sympathy or favor is over in the North.
According to the former publicity secretary of APC in Niger State, the north which Gumi is claiming to be speaking for is an extremely fragmented region in Nigeria today with the political class only interested in building dynasty for themselves and their immediate families unlike what is obtainable in the south where politicians build their people.
Vatsa pointed out that any region that is laying claim to the ownership of Abuja is indirectly laying claim to the ownership of Nigeria, saying that Abuja as it is today was developed with resources from all over Nigeria be it from oil, cattle rearing and cocoa, and therefore wonder why anybody will claim the monopoly of Abuja.
He stated further that before now it was easier in Nigeria to hide your failure under ethnicity and religion and also gather support under ethnicity and religion, adding that all that is beginning to change because the ordinary man on the streets of North has never benefitted anything from the leaders who have continued to use religion and ethnicity to win their support.
“When political Clerics and politicians need support they remember religion and ethnicity but the moment they achieve their aim, they only remember their immediate families and begin to expand their dynasty, that is why we have extreme poverty in the north than any other region in Nigeria despite our hanging on to power for over four decades ”.
He expressed regret that if Nigeria where to be a country we there is proper means of identification of who is truly a Nigerian, some people wouldn’t have been allowed to contribute to national discourse stressing that “so whatever Gumi who is a political Cleric says or is saying today, I don’t blame him because in Nigeria, we don’t have means of proper identification to know those who are Nigerians and who are immigrants.
“It is easier to claim citizenship of Nigeria through either the North or the South; your passport is just to be either a Muslim or a Christian, and can speak Hausa or any indigenous language. That is also why we are having this high level of security challenges all over the country”.
Vatsa expressed further regret that while the north has dominated every other region in the FCT Ministerial position since its creation, this dominance, he argued has never translated to a better live for the average northerner as poverty headquarter has remained in the region “yet people like Gumi think that they can achieve cheap popularity or sympathy by calling for resignation of Wike.
“Wike is a Nigerian and has the right to be the President of Nigeria, not just FCT Minister.
“If there is any region in Nigeria today that should agitate for the Minister of the federal capital, it should be Niger state because 80% of land that made up Abuja is from Niger State, But unfortunately Niger has not yet produce an FCT Minister since the return of democracy in 1999.
“Up till today, Niger State is still bearing the burdens of Abuja with over 40 percent of its population residing in Suleja, Sabon Wuse and Madela”.