The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has raised a serious alarm over the staggering youth unemployment in Nigeria, warning that the country might be in imminent danger.
Speaking at the Sixth Executive Committee Meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council (NTRC) in Kaduna, the Sultan expressed deep concern about the economic hardship in the country, describing Nigerians as deeply frustrated, hungry, and resentful.
The prominent traditional and religious leader emphasized that Nigeria is in an explosive situation, particularly in the northern region.
He highlighted the millions of unemployed youths without income and food, stating that this posed a serious danger to the nation.
The Sultan urged the urgent need to find jobs for the teeming idle youths, emphasizing that sitting on a keg of gunpowder with millions of unemployed youths could lead to trouble.
He identified insecurity and poverty as the major issues causing trouble in the northern region and regretted that, despite holding meetings with northern governors, the security challenges persist.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, the Sultan questioned the continuity of the government in addressing the challenges, stating,
“To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party. So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves.”
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The Sultan stressed the importance of traditional rulers in bringing solutions to the various problems facing the country, emphasizing that the solutions already exist, but implementation is lacking.
He called for government investment in the security sector, both in terms of equipment and manpower, to address the menace of insecurity urgently.
He added, “We have reached that level, people are very agitated, people are hungry, they are angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them.
“They believe in some of their governors, some other traditional rulers, and some of their religious leaders. Fortunately, some of us double as traditional and religious leaders.
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.”