Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Northern Youths under the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has cautioned Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State against using the Government House for the celebration of the birthday of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu.
It described the plan as “an insult on the symbol of authority that the Government House has been to the Kano people for decades.”
A statement signed by the AYCF national president, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, on Friday, took exception to the choice of the Kano State Government House as “the only place in the North” for celebrating Tinubu’s birthday, “a man who kept quiet while Northerners were under attack in Oyo State and some parts of the South West.”
The group said: “While people from Ganduje’s Northern Nigeria were being maimed, Tinubu kept mute. Even when Northerners’ assets were being destroyed in some parts of the South West under the guise of hunting down imaginary herdsmen, he could not condemn the violence. Yet, this is shamelessly the special guest for Ganduje at the Kano Government House.”
The AYCF argued that Kano is not only the financial nerve centre of the North but it is also “the symbol of the region’s cultural and historical pride up to today and we won’t fold our arms and watch this pillar of the North turned into a birthday party venue for people who are not officials of any government in the country.”
It asked Governor Ganduje “not to allow himself to be used as the only governor in the North to avail a whole symbol of authority – the Government House – for a private citizen’s birthday party, something no Lagos State governor has ever done to even the most respected politicians or private individuals from the North.
“Why can’t the governor of Lagos State, where Tinubu has a lot of influence, do so inside the Government House, Alausa? Has Governor Ganduje ever hosted Aminu Kano’s remembrance in the Government House? And if Governor Ganduje is so desperate about pleasing Tinubu, either as associate or political godfather, what stops him from using events centres and stadium in Kano Municipal that could be more conveniently used for such purposes? Why must it be Government House?”
The group then declared: “We wish to advise Governor Ganduje to drop this primitive idea of hosting a private individual inside Kano Government House, or else we will apply all legitimate means of stopping this embarrassing wastage and denigration of the official abode of a governor for fun.
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