The National President of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the leadership of former President Muhammad Buhari, describing his eight-year tenure as a “waste” for both the northern region and Nigeria as a whole.
In a recent interview with Vanguard, Shettima shared his concerns about the state of the North, citing widespread neglect and frustration among the people.
According to Shettima, the North has long suffered from poor leadership, which has led to the current hardships in the region. He noted that the region has been “pushed to the wall” by previous leaders who failed to address the critical issues facing the people.
The AYCF president stressed that the northern population, already grappling with severe poverty, became increasingly frustrated during Buhari’s administration.
“It is a clear indication that, over time, the North has been neglected by its previous leaders, who didn’t do the needful. They left the people frustrated. Already, there is poverty and we have said it countless times that the governors are supposed to be doing better than they are doing. We were privileged to be at the helm of affairs in this country, but our leaders have not done enough.
“They planted what we are reaping today. The eight years of Buhari was just a waste for the region and the country. Tinubu inherited the problem. And this is the consequence of the wasteful leadership of the Buhari era. That is what provoked our people to be deeply involved in the demonstrations.
“If the leaders cannot do the needful, they will see the worst protests shortly where everybody will be consumed,” Shettima said.
Shettima also addressed concerns about President Bola Tinubu’s administration, acknowledging that Tinubu inherited many of the challenges facing the country but stressing that the underlying issues stem from the failures of Buhari’s leadership.
While some have criticized Tinubu’s appointments for not favoring the North, Shettima argued that the region’s problems go beyond government positions.
He pointed to the pervasive poverty and hunger in the North, exacerbated by recent government policies, as the root causes of the region’s struggles.
He said: “It is not about appointments. It is about poverty and hunger in the land compared to the South. This is in addition to the recent policies by (the Tinubu) government.
“Even when the government tried to provide succour, some people among the northern elites ensured it didn’t get to the people. Only recently, we learnt that money was given to the governors by the Federal Government to give to the people, but nothing was disbursed until the Federal Government opened up.
“There should be synergy between the Federal Government and states. And if anything for the people comes to the state, it must get to the people. This is the implication of not allowing the people to feel the impact of any government at any level and not the appointments.
“Of course, the appointments do not do justice to the North, and we have raised the issue. What baffles some of us is that most of the appointments are given to people who are not in touch with the people. They give appointments to the elites, who have no track record of having anything to do with the masses. They never believed in the masses and had nothing to do with them.
“How do you expect the masses to feel the impact when such people are given appointments? The government has to look inward. There are people who, if you want to give appointments, you will look at their track record – they should be people who live with the masses.
“You don’t have to give appointments to people who are far from the masses. They shouldn’t be people who have nothing to do with the people and expect governance to get to the people. This is part of the mistakes this administration is making.
“The same thing happened during the administration of Buhari. The same mistake is happening again. Can people endure this hunger in the next three years? It is impossible. That is why we have seen this level of reaction in the North.”
