North West APC leaders betray their suffering people

The Saturday gathering of so-called “stakeholders” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North West, where they shamelessly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, is nothing short of a slap in the face to the millions of Nigerians suffering under the weight of his failed leadership. In a lavish display of political […]

The Saturday gathering of so-called “stakeholders” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North West, where they shamelessly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, is nothing short of a slap in the face to the millions of Nigerians suffering under the weight of his failed leadership.

In a lavish display of political recklessness, the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, governors of Kebbi, Jigawa, and the host governor Uba Sani, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajuddeen Abbas, the Deputy Senate President, DSP Barau Jibrin and an assortment of former governors, ministers, National Assembly members, APC state chairmen, and host of others assembled in Kaduna to pledge their blind loyalty to Tinubu. While their people are being slaughtered by bandits, starved by unbearable inflation, and abandoned in crippling unemployment, these so-called leaders have chosen to play sycophants to a government that has done nothing but deepened their misery.

The North West is one of the worst-hit regions in Nigeria’s escalating insecurity. Daily, villages are raided, farmers are killed, and families are displaced. Hunger has become a way of life, with food prices skyrocketing beyond the reach of ordinary citizens. Millions of young people roam the streets jobless, with no hope in sight. Yet, instead of demanding accountability, these “leaders” are busy rolling out the red carpet for a president whose policies have only worsened their plight.

Where was Ganduje when bandits overran communities in Zamfara and Katsina? Where were the governors when their people cried out for help? Where was the Deputy Senate President when families were burying their loved ones killed by terrorists? They were nowhere to be found—until it was time to collect political favours and secure their own selfish interests.

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The endorsement of Tinubu by these politicians is not just tone-deaf; it is an act of betrayal. It shows how disconnected they are from the realities of the people they claim to represent. While children are out of school due to insecurity, mothers hawk their belongings to buy food, while young men resort to crime out of desperation—these leaders with their loved ones are dining in luxury, pledging support for a man who has done nothing to alleviate their people’s suffering.

Tinubu’s administration has brought nothing but pain: a disastrous fuel subsidy removal that crashed the economy, a floating exchange rate that destroyed the naira, a security strategy that has left Nigerians more vulnerable than ever and cancellation of former President Buhari’s anchor borrower programme that has brought succour to millions of farmers in the North West. Yet, instead of holding him accountable, these North West “stakeholders” are rewarding failure.

History will remember these politicians as men and women who chose power over principle, who sold their people’s suffering for a seat at the table. They have failed in their duty to speak truth to power. They have failed their constituents. They have failed Nigeria.

The North West deserves leaders who will fight for its people; not praise a government that has abandoned them. The day of reckoning will surely come, and when it does, the masses will not forget this betrayal.

Shame on them all!

 

Sa’adu Sani wrote from Zango, Katsina State.