Vice President Kashim Shettima yesterday blamed the vandalism of infrastructure and looting of public/private facilities in some part of the North by protesters poor leadership, corruption and poverty in the region.
The vice president said toleration of the social vices for too long resulted to breeding of new crop of generation without fear of God and respect for the laws of the land by those who participated in the nationwide protests against economic hardship. Shettima, who noted that the accumulation of too many problems accounted for the destruction of lives and property, admitted the need for a complete overhaul of the system.
The vice president spoke at the graduation ceremony of 20 indigent pupils of Hau’wa Memorial School (HMS), owned by AMA Foundation, where he was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmad.
He said: “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.”
The vice president assured that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will make Nigeria work so that future generations will benefit just like past generations benefited for the legacies of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
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 in becoming better than they are, young people who think 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, they are 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.”
Urging youths to channel their anger against the system that does not give them a chance and towards the political system, he said: “The political system we are operating is defective because it is producing people who have no business being in government.”
He, however, challenged parents to be more involved in the lives and upbringing of their children. Shettima said: “No matter what, there is no justification for stealing or looting some one’s else’s property.
“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 we can become something.
“If the politics we are running are 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.” He cautioned the graduating pupils against cheating but learn how to survive by hard work.
Shiekh Ahmed Gumi described the protest as a wake-up call to leaders on the need to assist the society in order to curtail lawlessness. Chairman of the occasion, Prof Abdulsalami Nasidi, charged northern leaders to educate the young ones to reawaken the North.
He noted that nation building starts from building the child adding: “We are facing social up time in the North and one of the major ways out is by empowering, educating and ensuring children are groomed to become respectable members of society.
Executive Chairman of AMA Foundation, Musa Abdullahi charged the 20 graduating pupils to be good ambassadors of the school in the future endevour and use the knowledge they have been impacted with to touch other lives in their communities.
