Shettima links violent protest in North to poverty, poor leadership

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Sunday attributed the recent violent protests in the northern region to entrenched poverty and poor leadership.

Shettima, who said this at a graduation ceremony, added that the recent wave of vandalism and looting of public and private facilities in the North is also a result of widespread corruption.

The vice president, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said President Bola Tinubu will turn the economy around.

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“The violence witnessed in the north during the #EndBadGovernance protest is the result of widespread poverty and leadership failure,” Baba-Ahmed said on behalf of Shettima.

“The prevalence of social vices in the north is breeding a culture of lawlessness among the youth.”

Shettima also attributed the disregard for constituted authority during the protests to prolonged tolerance of societal ills.

“For too long, we have tolerated poverty, corruption, poor leadership, and we can see the result—a generation that has come up that has no respect for God, for the law of the land, for the leadership, and our values,” he said.

“In the last two weeks, the country has gone through difficult times, mostly led by the youth—young people who are angry because they are hungry, young people who are angry because they do not see any prospects of becoming better than they are, young people who think the government does not care about them, young people who have no respect for any authority in this country because they think every authority has let them down.

“Young people who are not afraid of hunger, not afraid of their parents, not afraid of the police, the army, or anybody because they believe this country belongs to those who can drag and run. Young Nigerians believe Nigeria is free for all.

“We created this situation, generations like ours, but we did not inherit it. The people who built Nigeria before our lives worked very hard and made sacrifices, and tried to build a country through honesty and hard work.”

Shettima hit out at the protesters over the looting and vandalism that marred the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest, insisting there was no justification for such unwholesome acts

“No matter what, there is no justification for stealing or looting someone else’s property,” he said.

“We have to work hard for this country, and we have to believe that Nigeria can be fixed, because if you do not believe the country can be fixed, then there is nowhere else to go.

“We have to begin to rebuild the country by showing our children that they can work the way Sardauna and his team worked so that people like me could go to school almost free and become something.

“If the politics we are running is not conducive, change it. If the system we are operating is not producing good leadership, peace, and security, change it, but do not walk away from the service of people who have no other people to look up to.

“For you, by the grace of God, we will make Nigeria work so you can go to school and go to your farms without fear or hindrance.”