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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Former director general (Media) to a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Maiyaki, has described the threats by some northern leaders and youths over the decision of the Federal Government to relocate five out of the 29 departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos, as unnecessary.
The relocating departments of CBN are Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection, Payment System Management, and Financial Policy Regulations)
To Maiyaki, the North is in dire need of genuine leaders who can stand and speak for the region when it matters rather than for selfish reasons as seen in recent times.
The Kaduna-based politician and public affairs commentator, who spoke on the development while featuring on a Kaduna-based private FM Radio station, yesterday, lamented that the so-called northern leaders are sponsoring some jobless youths against the constituted authority to protect their selfish interest and that of their children who may be staff of the apex bank.
According to him, “there is unnecessary noise on the relocation of some departments of the CBN and headquarters of FAAN from Abuja to Lagos. It is very sad we have heard people speaking for the North, including a principal senator, Ali Ndume, threatening there would be political consequences for this administration if this decision is not reversed.
“First as a Nigerian and of course as a northerner, these calls are unnecessary. It is just to overheat the polity. A simple search will show it is not about the North. If some of us with our level of education don’t come out clearly on issues like this, Nigeria will be doomed for it especially the North which requires genuine leaders.
“Some of these leaders have over-claimed to be speaking for the North only when it is convenient There are a quite number of issues that affect northerners. While the ACF and Undume were threatening the presidency, part of the North particularly Plateau State was on fire.
“At the time they were threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria, the common northerner who travels between Kaduna and Abuja, Kaduna and Zamfara, Kaduna and Birnin Gwari and other parts of the North are facing serious terror of kidnappers and bandits. We’ve not heard these leaders coming out to say if the president did not end these social challenges there would be consequences. As northerners, we expect they speak when the North is affected and not when they are affected,” he said.
On the relocation of some departments of CBN, he said, “It is on record that one of the key functions of the CBN is monitoring commercial banks whose headquarters are located in Lagos.
“Apart from that, CBN has 29 departments and only about five of them are being taken back to Lagos for effective monitoring of commercial banks and at the same time cutting down unnecessary expenditures the staff in these five departments procure in the name of travelling from Abuja to Lagos to do their work.
“Now those making noise are affected and not the North. They are affected because their children are working in these banks. For a long time, major agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and CBN have stopped advertising jobs.
“But because these people are senators and highly placed in the country, they get their children recruited through the back door. Most of them were schooled out of this country, and they returned and lived comfortably in Abuja. So, they are scared that they are going to be posted out of Abuja to Lagos. That is what the noise is all about. It is not because of the common man in the North,” he added.
On the protesting youths, he said: “It is so sad the youths that are being used to do this protest in Katsina and other parts of Nigeria are ignorant of what they are doing. When there are jobs in the CBN, they will not be recruited. They send their children to CBN and other lucrative agencies of government. But when it comes to protest, when it comes to using them against the constituted authority to achieve their selfish interests they give them peanuts and they protest.
“The question is how will the relocation of a few departments of CBN affect the common northern man having a provision store by the roadside? How will it affect the common northern woman selling maize by the roadside in the North? He asked.
On FAAN he said: “The number of local and international flights in Lagos cannot be compared to any state. That requires an agency like FAAN to be on the ground. After all, it was the former Aviation minister Hadi Sirika, who relocated it from Lagos to Abuja in 2020. We should be more concerned about how these agencies add value to the country.
“So, there are issues affecting the North which these people have kept quiet about because these issues don’t affect them and their children. They are in Abuja well protected. We expect them as acclaimed leaders of the North to speak when it matters,” he said.
