Posted by Jonathan Vatsa, a former commissioner for information, culture, and tourism in the state of Niger and a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has stated that the practice of appealing to one’s ethnic or religious group for support has run its course in the north.
Vatsa, speaking in Minna, was responding to Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmed Gumi’s attack on FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over the issue of who should represent the FCT in government.
According to Vatsa, Gumi’s involvement with forest bandits has caused him to lose touch with reality in the north.
His argument was that any region that claims Abuja as its own is also making an indirect claim to the rest of Nigeria. Today’s Abuja was built using money and labor from all around Nigeria, including oil, cattle farming, and cocoa production.
He went on to say, “Some people wouldn’t have been allowed to contribute to national discourse if Nigeria were a country with proper means of identification of who is truly a Nigerian.” I don’t blame political cleric Gumi for whatever he’s said or is saying now since there is no foolproof way to tell a native Nigerian from an immigrant in the country.
The APC leader claimed that acquiring citizenship in Nigeria is less of a hassle than in other countries.
The ability to speak Hausa or another indigenous language is equivalent to being a Muslim or a Christian. It’s for the same reason that we’re facing nationwide security issues, he added.
To elaborate, Vatsa insisted that since Niger State is responsible for eighty percent of Abuja’s land, it is the region that should be lobbying for the position of Minister of the Federal Capital.