The new Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Group (CNG), Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, has cautioned Nigerians against the repeat of 2015 presidential election, where religious and ethnic considerations played much role in determining the winner.
In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the CNG leader said the group was going to unveil an Arewa security outfit to meet the challenges of insecurity in the northern region.
After your retreat in Bauchi last week, you emerged the new coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG). What are your programmes?
We had a three-day retreat at the Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi State, in which so many issues dominated our discussion, especially the state of the nation. With the current situation that we have found ourselves, security issue was of utmost priority. Under my leadership, we unanimously agreed to have a comprehensive document detailing our security outfit – Arewa Security Outfit, its modus operandi; the ways and manner this outfit will be funded. This document shall be handed over to the various Northern state governors for adoption and ratification by the various states’ House of Assembly. We are of the belief that if they are going to use the security outfit very well and utilise it as designed by experts among us; definitely, it is going to solve a lot of insecurity in our various states.
We also realise the economic hardship of our people, and we are trying to see if we can initiate some businesses under some economic interventions because we believe that the major causes of this insecurity is the economic hardship our people are facing today. Our people have never found themselves in this type of precarious situation; the economic hardship is worrisome and alarming all over the northern states.
Thirdly, we realise that the level of unemployment among our youths is frightening. This government promised to create millions of job opportunities when elected into power, and people devoted their time, energy and resources to ensure that they came into power, but unfortunately there hasn’t been anything and our teeming youths are roaming the streets doing nothing and that is why drug abuse has been become a cankerworm eating the fabric of our society. These are some of the key issues that came up during the retreat and we agreed to carry out the implementation one after the other. God willing, the document will be ready this week and by next week we begin to meet the state governors and hand over the security document to them.
Is this security outfit in line with that of Amotekun in the South-West?
When the South-West created its own security outfit, Amotekun, we also initiated a security outfit for the North, Shege Kafasa, but unfortunately, there was outburst everywhere in the country that this was not how it was supposed to be. During that time, we advised the state governors that they needed to have this security outfit because the insecurity in the country was escalating and today we are seeing it, not only in the forests of northern Nigeria and the highways, but in the cities of the region. If these people can strike Abuja for more than three times, then where else is safe? This proposed security outfit is designed to curtail the menace of insecurity in the north.
CNG initially kicked against the rotation of the presidency between north and south. Are you still standing on that?
We were not against the rotation of power, but we were against people voting along ethnic or religious lines. The country is very diverse and we have to use our diversity very positively for the benefit of the country as well as the citizens. What we are still saying is that people should avoid voting along religious or ethnic lines because it is disastrous. In 2015, people voted along ethnic and religious lines and today where do we find ourselves? Are we enjoying the election we did in 2015? This is the worst situation that Nigerians have witnessed in terms of insecurity and economic hardship. Today, ASUU is still on strike after over six months. People should vote along the line of competency, integrity, capacity and also even the political antecedent of each of the candidates. When people scrutinise the political antecedent of the candidate, his capacity and capability to actualise what he said he is coming to do, then they should vote along that line. Voting along religious and ethnic sentiment will never yield any good for Nigeria and Nigerians because this administration is a typical example of voting along ethnic and religious sentiments.
What’s your position on the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
I’m not concerned about whatever ticket, whether Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian. My concern is whether these people are competent to lead the country. This is the only point that Nigerians should look up to and forget about their ethnicity or religion; we should forget about everything and ask, if they are capable, competent and do they have integrity and the political will to move the country forward. Let us forget about these hired people that are shouting that this is a Muslim, this is Christian, this is Hausa, this is Igbo, and this is Yoruba; but be interested if the person will do justice to the country. By doing justice to the country, you will not be bothered about his religion or ethnicity. Let the concentration be on the capacity, capability and integrity of the candidates, and also to look up for the political antecedent of that candidate.
We are lucky today that most of the candidates were one time this or that, so they have the political antecedent; they have a history that judges whether where they left before progressed or retrogressed. They have that history that can tell whether they were there for their people or not. They have that history whether they have contributed towards the development of Nigeria and Nigerians or not; we are lucky that they have held one position or the other, so their assessments will be as easy and as simple as ABCD. For us to assess them based on their religion and history, we are not doing justice to the country or to ourselves.
Many have argued that a same-faith ticket is not proper for a country like Nigeria with diverse religions and ethnic groups.
If we begin to think that my religion or ethnicity is not there, which means we are not talking of competence. In a competent administration, the government will do justice to everyone and will be for Nigeria and Nigerians. This is not the first time that the same fate ticket started. The running mate of the late M. K. O. Abiola was a Muslim and they won the election, though it was annulled. When Buhari, a Muslim was the military Head of State, Tunde Idiagbon, also a Muslim was his deputy. In as much as Nigerians continue to think along ethnicity or religious line, it won’t augur well for the country.
Many have expressed worry over a perceived Islamisation and Fulanisation agenda. Some evebn wondered if there were no competent Christians in the north?
On the issue of the choice of the vice president, if we are fair to ourselves, that is the sole responsibility of the presidential candidate. Unfortunately today, we are having politicians and not leaders, who are much more concerned on how they are going to win elections; their calculation is just on how to win the election. Let us not be driven away from the main issue, which is to focus on these candidates. If we continue to focus on the candidates’ faiths and tribes, the main issue which is competence will be lost and we will be worst for it. We have done it before and this is where it has landed us. Had it been at that time people didn’t vote along religious and ethnic lines, maybe a different person would be there; maybe we wouldn’t find ourselves where we are today. What we did has caused us much and it is alarming, and the problem it generated is also overwhelming. We are all aware of the problem it is generating. Today, if you go to the forests in the north, there are so many bandits’ cells, and they cannot be dislodged easily. You have a situation where these bandits are being turbaned for the communities to have peace.
So, we shouldn’t be carried away by the same faiths or ethnicity issue, but concentrate on the qualities of the candidates to move this country forward. We have so many political opportunists looking for a room or window and they have succeeded in segregating our people by using religious leaders, who are eager to be used because of materialism in politics. They have been doing this for a long period of time and they have succeeded in putting this in the minds of Nigerians that the candidate must be somebody from my religion. They are trying to bring religious sentiments in our country, which is not good for Nigeria.
When a wanted terrorist with a N5million bounty placed on him was turbaned in Zamfara community, with government officials and security agents present, the CNG never issued a statement against the event. Why?
Only a person who lives in the northern Nigeria can attest to the insecurity situation there. It has got to a situation whereby people living in villages and cities have already lost hope that the government can do anything about it. So, they are looking for a way and solution to at least have their people sleep with both eyes closed. In spite of that, it is condemnable and we will never appreciate a situation whereby a confirmed terrorist is being turbaned anywhere. However, this is the outcome of government’s negligence. The government cannot protect the people and the people have to look for a way to protect themselves. When people realise that the government doesn’t have the political will, the capacity and that the Nigeria security to an extent is even compromised and nobody is coming to their rescue, the emir in that area decided to look for a possible way that can checkmate the insecurity in that area. The people in the area were jubilant, believing that as this man was being turbaned as head of that forest, definitely that there will be peace, and the people in that community will tell you that they now sleep with their eyes closed following the turbanning of this man.