FORGET 2019, NORTHERN YOUTHS TELL BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari.

As the second term bid of the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari continues to dominate the Nigerian political space, the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, a northern pressure group has told the President to forget seeking a re-election in the 2019 presidential election.

According to the group, all efforts by Buhari to seek a re-election at the polls would not receive the support of its members.

Alhaji Yerima Shettima, President of the AYCF made ti s known while speaking with the Sun in an interview at the weekend.

“Honestly, the situation is nothing to write home about and we cannot continue hoping that anything will happen from now till the next one year,” he said.

Shettima added that the youths could no longer continue to fold its arms while the Buhari administration appears to lack what it takes to run a successful government.

“We cannot continue over and over. We have come of age. We cannot continue to fold our hands and be complaining. We must be in the mainstream. Most of them had the opportunity but they could not do it well and I do not see them doing it better now at their age. The truth is that our expectations of this government have not been met.

“Everything they promised during the campaign and in their manifesto. The reason why everybody sought for change was that we thought this government will fight corruption tooth and nail without considering whosoever is involved. But we have now realized that the fight against corruption has become selective. Then two, the issue of insurgency, leave it or take it, to us, as laymen this battle is not over. We cannot or the government cannot justify the fact that we told Nigerians that the fight against insurgency is over. Almost every day we have had casualties. These are the two core issues.

“The third one on the campaign was the issue of power. This is nothing to write home about even though the Minister of Power told us that a responsible government should be able to fix power within six months.

“That has not been achieved more than two and a half years after. Now it is nothing to write home about; the same thing with roads. Even the issue of petrol pump price is another one. We were told during the campaign that immediately they resume office, fuel price would go down to N40 per liter from N97 per litre. Now, a government that promised this rather than keep to their promise raised the price astronomically. Now, it is between 70 and 80 percent increase. That is giving us a lot of concern. Certainly, whether you like it or not the government must take responsibility and I have no doubt in my mind that between them and God who created them they know they have failed Nigerians.

“And when people take responsibility, then we will begin to forgive ourselves. If they beg for forgiveness we can decide to overlook it and also forge ahead. But certainly, never again will anybody make this mistake. Never. Honestly, the situation is nothing to write home about and we cannot continue hoping that anything will happen from now till the next one year. We cannot continue to imagine that.

“That would assume we are living in imagination and the truth of the matter is that from now until January what the government has been able to do is what they can do for this tenure and I do not think that Nigerians are prepared to be fooled for the second time.

“We will insist that those above 60 do not come on board again and that our generation should stand firm to take our destiny in our hands. We will jettison the issue of the difference in ethnicity, religion and other mundane, divisive sentiments to insist on good governance. We are enlightened and we know exactly what we want. We constitute about 70 to 80 percent of the population and if democracy is about numbers, we will achieve our aim.

“Even before Buhari, the North has other people who we can vouch for their integrity who are not up to 60 years. I have no doubt in my mind there are. In fact, I am one. We cannot also assume that he alone can do the job. He does not have a team to go with, simply because they took advantage of his ill-health or his age,” he noted.

Shittima, who has become a known figure particularly since the deadline he issued to the Igbo to quit Northern Nigeria on October1, 2017, stated further that Nigerians have been living in imagination but as things continued to unfold, no one was prepared to be fooled for the second time.

Asked if he is also going to contest, he added, “I may, I may not. But I am saying we have a lot of them. We have a lot of people of my generation who can do better and who also have integrity. Nobody can question the integrity of Muhammadu Buhari, but I am also saying that governance cannot be single-handedly run in a country like Nigeria,” he concluded.