Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has called on politicians to distinguish between criticising government policies and undermining the corporate existence of the country under the prevailing security situation in the country.
The governor, who urged Nigerians to be patriotic, also warned politicians to refrain from politicising the issue of security, noting that the country is greater than any individual’s selfish interest.
Sani gave this advice when top Directors of the Department of State Services (DSS) paid him a courtesy call at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Friday.
He decried the antics of some politicians who run down the image of the country in the media in the name of opposing the government’s policies, describing them as “anti-democratic forces.”
According to the governor, this category of politicians forgets that political office holders will complete their terms and leave office, but Nigeria will remain a country.
”As a governor, you can criticise me, but when you act in a manner that will cause disaffection or tarnish the image of the country or disturb the peace of Kaduna State, you have become a merchant of conflict,” he argued.
Recalling his days as a defender of the rule of law, free speech, and a civil rights advocate, he said that “our leader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory, used to warn us to distinguish between Nigeria as a country and its leaders in all our activism.”
The governor disclosed that some of the politicians who are now in the opposition were “nowhere to be found when we were in the trenches and fighting the military for this democracy that Nigeria is now enjoying.”
He warned that the elite should not use their privileged position ”to undermine the security of the underserved because most of them have no real stake in the country.”
”If anything happens, these people in the GRAs whose families are abroad will just leave the country and allow the poor and vulnerable to bear the consequences of their actions,” he added.
Governor Sani said that politicians should not sit down in the comfort of their air-conditioned homes and send the children of the masses to protest while their own are abroad.
He pointed out that working against one’s country in the name of opposition is not only unpatriotic but also a sacrilege, adding that this is the modus operandi of conflict entrepreneurs.
”The elites in GRAs are living together in peace, irrespective of ethno-religious differences, but some of them use religion for political gains. They don’t even care about putting the life of the common man at risk, and for me, this is really unfortunate,” he said.
The governor, who described this category of political elites as ”insecurity merchants,” warned them to stop politicising security because they are benefiting from it.
”What is more important to me is our state and its development. Politicians can not divide us now along religious lines. I made it clear to all religious leaders that, whether we like it or not, God has put us here in Kaduna State as Muslims and Christians. We must embrace each other and work together,” he said.
”As a governor, the last thing you will ask me to do is to judge people based on their religion. I don’t look at you from the lenses of religion; it is your character that I care about and not your religion,” he argued.
The governor commended the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, all heads of security agencies, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Adeola Ajayi, for their efforts in curbing the security challenges in the country.
