( An Opinion)
By Yusuf Idris Gusau
I was surprised and perplexed to read a response on a verified Facebook account of Zamfara State PDP acting Chairman who doubles as the chief of staff, government house to governor Dauda Lawal in the person of Mouktar Lugga over the recent meeting by four of our eminent personalities and former governors of the state to find a solution that will permanently end insecurity in the state.
Recall that a combination of four former governors of the state, including Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima, Alhaji Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi, Senator Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar and the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle met in Abuja on Saturday night over a marathon meeting that had the insecurity situation bedevilling the state top on its agenda.
The Zamfara state government, through it Chief of Staff Lugga, quickly condemned the timely meeting that received international acclaim and described it as political.
The Chief of Staff Mouktar Lugga who served as commissioner throughout the eight years administration of Governor Abdulaziz Yari who spoke in self contradictions, accused his former boss and his colleagues that attended the meeting to having done nothing over insecurity in the state over time.
Meanwhile, the former governors who are less perturbed by the attacks coming from the opposition who invoke negative political colorization in everything from the APC in the state have gone ahead in finding ways that will bring lasting peace in the state.
Many people have described the former governors’ meeting as a good initiative that will benefit not only Zamfara but humanity as a whole.
I believe that every well-meaning Zamfara citizen will commend the former leaders for the timely meeting considering the escalating nature of insecurity in the State.
What Lugga failed to understand is that Zamfara State belongs to everybody irrespective of their political, religious and ethnic inclination, and the insecurity is affecting everybody because APC and PDP members are being brutally killed and kidnapped for ransom by bandits on a daily bases which also became worse under the administration Lugga is serving as chief of staff.
It’s on record that the security situation in Zamfara State is getting out of hand now because there’s no local government headquarters that has not suffered in the hands of the criminals in recent time as they have all become vulnerable to bandits attacks.
It is now common knowledge that the local government areas of Tsafe, Kaura Namoda, Zurmi, Maru, Bukkuyum and Anka experience daily bandits’ attacks with many innocent locals killed, does Lugga mean that because PDP is governing the state nobody from the opposition party like the APC can think or contribute on how to end the blood letting in the state.
What I expect from Lugga is to be extending his condolences and sympathy to the families of those who were killed or kidnapped and even those whose houses were destroyed due to bandit activities in the state but for lack of focus and right thinking faculty, he lowered himself to attacking the positive decision of the Zamfara leaders.
It’s on record that before the coming of the current PDP administration, no local government headquarters witnessed bandits’ attacks but now all the local government headquarters are not safe including the state capital in which only last week, the Bank manager of Taj Bank, Mansur Kaura was kidnapped in the central hub of Gusau the state Capital but we are yet to see any of Lugga’s sympathy or that of his co-travellers.
The same last week, people of Bilbis were killed innocently while others were kidnapped and Lugga hasn’t written a word, the same thing happened to the people of Sakajiki which made youths and women stage a protest blocking the major road linking Gusau to Kaura Namoda but he kept mute without any word of sympathy or registering the state government’s concerns or plans to protect them from the waves of attacks.
Let me remind him that during their campaigns, the PDP made a lot of unguarded statements on the security situation accusing APC and Governor Bello Matawalle because they wanted to win elections without thinking of the dangers of politicising the security situation which is affecting almost the entire northwest .
During the previous administration of Governor Bello Matawalle, all our major roads were accessible at all time and now the state under your watch, is not motorable because of the increased activities of bandits for which a special announcement was made by the state Commissioner of Information that Zamfara State government was closing all roads from 6 pm to 6am daily.
Likewise, before now, our markets were accessible with commercial activities taking place without fear of being attacked or killed unlike now.
As good citizens of Zamfara State, we will not join PDP or the likes of you to politicise security of our people that is why we also support any move or programme that will bring an end to the security situation in our dear state because it is the only state we have.
Please, be patriotic and consider the lives of innocent citizens as more important than your party.
Allow people to contribute their knowledge, experience and initiative on how to end the banditry activities in the state, I believe the former governors will contact the current governor and the president to find lasting solution to the problem, so don’t be jittery.
Because you are among the problems surrounding the governor and your likes that always condemn good ideas and objective criticism and causing a lot of damage to the state.
From security to state legislatures no one is given listening ears by the state government.
Let me tell you, we are hundred percent in support of our leaders on issues that concern security and economic development of our dear state, Zamfara.
Yusuf Idris Gusau is the Zamfara state APC Publicity Secretary
20th May,2024