•Says no evidence of what ex-president did with $87bn loan
•Pleads Tinubu should be allowed to serve eight years in office
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
After a hard look at former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in office, a northern group, Arewa Think Tank, yesterday, declared that the Buhari-led federal government failed Nigeria.
The group, therefore, said the North should wait till 2031 before taking another shot at the presidency, after President Bola Tinubu’s expected two terms of eight years would have elapsed.
It also warned that the North should not consider running for the 2027 presidential race, in view of the gentleman’s agreement between the North and South.
The group, in a statement by Alhaji Muhammad Yakubu, anchored its position on fears that a presidency under a northerner would be of no benefit to the people of the region, citing the eight years of Buhari as wasteful years to Northern Nigeria.
It said only a few northerners would enjoy the benefits of democracy if another northerner emerged president in 2027.
The statement said, “Arewa Think Tank’s position on this is that from experience and history, the last eight years that Buhari was in power, he did not change the fortunes of the North, the North did not benefit anything. I am sorry to say, each time a northerner is at the helm of affairs, a few people around the president and in the corridors of power that are benefiting.
“Look at the eight years of Buhari, from Abuja to Kaduna, to Kano Road, they have not been able to complete the roads in eight years. This was the highway that was done by former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in less than three years. We can’t see what Buhari did with all the money he borrowed.
“Our people were more improvised under his administration. It was during his tenure that Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world. Jonathan built Almajiri schools during his regime. Buhari could not build one and he could not maintain the one that Jonathan built. So, it was a very few northerners and their families that were around Buhari that benefitted from him. North as a region and as the people did not benefit.”
Rationalising why Tinubu should be allowed to run the country for eight years, the group said, “Now, we have a southern president in Tinubu. He gave North Minister of Education and Minister of State for Education, Minister of Defence, and junior Minister of Defence, substantive Minister of Agriculture, and the junior Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
Arewa Think Tank stated, “What North needs now is infrastructure, economic development, and qualitative education, not political power. Political power has not benefitted us. In the next eight years, we don’t think North will think of political power.”
The group maintained, “The North should go for agricultural and economic development and give quality education to our people. All indices of the North were at the lowest ebb during the last day of Buhari.
“We are happy that the Minister of Education is already making case for Almajiri commission within just a few months in office. If you see the blue print of the minister of agriculture, you will be amazed.
“Even though we are not where we ought to be, there is improvement in the area of insecurity. We can see some signs of improvement. There is a gentleman agreement between North and the South for the South to do eight years before going back to the North again.
“Tell me, how has North benefitted in the last eight years when North was in power, apart from kidnapping, killings and insurgency that Buhari left behind for us? How has the fortune of the North changed?
“For the North to continue with political power is just for the benefit of very few. We are telling the North not to seek political power in 2027. This is our position. And anybody who is not happy with our position should go and develop his own position.
“This is the fact. How has the fortunes of the North changed since independence, apart from the time of the late Premier of Northern Region and the Second Republic. So, really, we think North should stay out of power in 2027.”
The group also commented on the naira as well as socio-economic hardship in Nigeria, and appealed for understanding on the part of the citizenry to give Tinubu a chance.
It said, “This situation is not Tinubu’s creation. We should give him time to change the situation for the better. If after one and half years, we did not see positive changes, then, we can start firing him. Do you want Tinubu to go and print naira or dollars? He can’t do that.
“So, we are appealing that Nigerians should give him more time. If after one and a half years things did not improve, we know how to challenge him. There seems to be hope and light at the end of the tunnel with the few months he had spent in office.
“So, let’s give more time. We will be one of the first Nigerians to criticise him if things did not improve after one and a half years in office. The challenges he met in office are not his creations.”
