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From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Elder statesman Tanko Yakasai on Monday called out Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf over his plea for the reopening of borders with Niger Republic with a view to allow for importation of food and alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians.
The statesman, in an interview with Daily Sun, observed that that the governor’s appeal to President Tinubu was premised on a wrong foot as Nigeria had never depended on Niger for food importation .
On the contrary, it is the people of Niger Republic that have been depending on us for food importation to augment their needs, he stated.
“For the record, we supply food to the Niger Republic and have been doing that ever since. We are not importing from them and do not need to open our border for that sake” he stated.
“We have a higher population of farmers and a bigger size of cultivable land than them,” he declared.
Yakasai, however, agreed with the governor on the need to reopen the border between both countries, saying that “It is not in our mutual interest for our border to be closed”
“The people of Niger are our brothers. Many families up North have relatives in Niger and families in Niger have relatives in Nigeria,” he told Daily Sun .
During a courtesy visit by the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi on Sunday, Governor Abba had appealed to President Bola Tinubu to open the border to allow for the importation of food so as to alleviate the suffering of the Nigerian masses.
A statement by the governor’s Director General (Media) Sanusi Bature noted that the governor had expressed worry over hunger and starvation in the land, especially during this sacred month of Ramadan, while underscoring the need the border to be reopened.
The governor also expressed satisfaction with the Service’s initiative to commence the distribution of food items to the citizens of the state while urging them to ensure that the food items reached those most affected and in need.
