Danger ahead as Sultan of Sokoto warns Nigerian Government about insecurity and employment amongst the Youth

February 15, 2024 Joshua Samuel

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, has expressed deep worry about Nigeria’s alarmingly high rate of youth unemployment and warned that the nation may be in serious peril.

The Sultan voiced his serious concerns about the economic hardship facing Nigeria during the Sixth Executive Committee Meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) in Kaduna. He described Nigerians as being extremely angry, hungry, and disappointed.

Nigeria is in a volatile state, especially in the north, stressed the well-known traditional and religious leader.

He drew attention to the millions of young people without jobs who are also food insecure and a major threat to the country.

The Sultan stressed the pressing need to find employment for the hordes of unemployed young people, pointing out that having millions of unemployed people might be a recipe for trouble.

He stated that poverty and insecurity are the main causes of unrest in the north and expressed concern that security problems still exist even after talks with northern governors.

The Sultan expressed displeasure with the current situation and questioned the government’s ability to continue tackling the issues, saying,

This government, in my opinion, is just the same party’s continuation of the previous one. What then is the actual issue? I believe that talking to oneself is one of the reasons we are here.

The Sultan emphasized the role of traditional rulers in providing answers to the nation’s many issues, pointing out that although the answers are already known, they are not being implemented.

In order to combat the threat of insecurity as soon as possible, he urged for government investment in the security sector, both in terms of personnel and equipment.

“We’ve reached that point where people are extremely agitated, hungry, and angry, but they still think there are people who can talk to them,” he continued.

They have faith in some of their religious leaders, some of their governors, and some other traditional leaders. Thankfully, a few of us also hold traditional and religious leadership positions.

“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calming them down, and assuring them things will be okay, and they should continue to pray and pray and still do something good because prayer without work will not bring anything.

“We are only advisers to the political leaders, that is all we can do, but if we are empowered and as strong as the governors by the constitution, by the amount of funds they get from the federal and state revenues, we can also do a lot.

“However, we are ready to work with the governors, because we believe in them, we believe in what they are doing, and must work with them.

“And if the governors, too, want to have peace and stability in their states, they must work with the traditional leaders.”

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Joshua Samuel

A conscientious writer with a knack and passion for story telling which spans across different sectors and segments. I love telling stories in writing and bringing quality, authentic and timely information to everyone everywhere.

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