Former Governor of Jigawa State and prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, has sharply criticized the recent trip by Northern governors to the United States.
In a statement shared on his official Facebook page, Lamido lambasted the governors, accusing them of displaying ignorance regarding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as reported by Vanguard.
The trip, which saw the Northern governors attending a peace summit organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), drew strong criticism from Lamido.
“Our Northern governors, as concerned leaders, traveled all the way to the United States of America to attend a lecture at the American Institute for Peace titled ‘ADVANCING STABILITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA’,” Lamido remarked, highlighting what he sees as a fundamental misunderstanding of their role.
“Their concern, commendable as it were, ended up exposing their ignorance at understanding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the very instrument which gave them the legitimacy and the authority to be Governors.
“If the Governors had traveled to the US to engage on how to boost agriculture or health issues or any other pressing local problems listed on the Concurrent List of our Constitution, this could be quite understandable.
“But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive Legislative List such as security says a lot about the substance they are made of,” he continued, emphasizing the disconnect between the governors’ focus and the pressing issues within their states.
Lamido pointed out that while issues such as agriculture and healthcare demand attention, the decision to engage with security matters, falling under the Exclusive Legislative List, raises questions about their priorities.
The former governor did not mince words in his critique, citing examples of rampant poverty, lack of basic amenities, and what he perceives as a lack of empathy among some governors.
“Security is a very wide subject which their Excellencies must have capacity to grasp. Most urban towns in their states lack portable drinking water, and refuse dumps have taken over some streets.
“Our children attend primary schools under the trees and where there are classes, they take their lessons sitting on the floor, yet the security implications of this cannot be discerned by their Excellencies.
“Deliberate and harshly induced poverty by unplanned government policies have made citizens lose their esteem, honour and self worth by lining up scrambling to collect palliatives from patronizing and condescending leaders yet the Insecurity of this is of no worry or concern to them.
“You have governors with no human empathy or respect for dignity or decency in an open show of shame throwing money like confetti from an open Jeep and people scrambling to pick it like the Governor of Niger State. Yet they fail to see the security implications of all these.
“If the governors were serious and wanted to have a lecture on security, they need not have embarked on such a wasteful journey with the accompanying expenditure of flight tickets, hotels with all their aides and above all the valuable time wasted at the expense of running their states.
Blaming the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for failing to provide proper guidance, Lamido expressed disappointment in the image projected by the governors’ actions.
“Certainly, they could have gotten more than they wanted from our resourceful institutions such as NIPSS in Kuru Jos or ASCON in Badagry or even NIA.
“These three institutions have more than enough materials, essays and templates on the problems on security in Nigeria more than the far fetched American Institute.”
“One is inclined to believe Rufai Oseni when he recently said ‘Nigerian madness has no bound or limits.
“So in Nigeria today, one’s biggest challenge is how one remains sane in this insane country,” he stated in conclusion.
