The Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, has called on Northerners to allow the South to complete its tenure under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu before the North seeks another turn in the rotation of the presidency.
Waiya made the call on Friday at the unveiling of Nigeria Forward, a socio-political platform established to promote national unity and support the consolidation of the Tinubu administration.
He said the position was necessary to preserve fairness and political stability, noting that the North had enjoyed eight years in office under former President Muhammadu Buhari before power shifted to the South under Tinubu.
“Don’t forget, so as to be fair, the North had its own eight years under late Muhammadu Buhari, and now the South is having its own under Bola Tinubu, the first tenure.
“And then the North should not be unfair to the South. We feel that we should be very much fair to our own brothers and sisters in the South. This means allowing the South to continue and complete its own tenure, so that the North can stay fresh for a complete another round of eight years,” he said.
Waiya said interrupting the current tenure could destabilise the country and jeopardise the development gains being recorded.
He said Nigeria Forward had two fundamental objectives: promoting national unity and consolidating the development gains recorded under the Tinubu administration.
According to him, the country had experienced agitations from different regions, but there was now a gradual movement towards greater national unity.
Waiya said the platform would therefore work towards sustaining unity while encouraging Nigerians to engage government constructively.
He also urged citizens to recognise that responsibility for national development did not rest solely with the President, stressing that state and local governments had constitutional responsibilities.
The commissioner said Nigerians should examine what sub-national governments were doing with increased allocations, rather than attributing every development challenge to the Federal Government.
He further said the Tinubu administration had facilitated the process towards establishing state police structures, describing the development as a major step towards addressing insecurity.
Waiya said Kano State had already established a State Police Implementation Committee as part of the process.
He argued that democracy required citizens to engage elected leaders, make demands and present concrete proposals for addressing their challenges.
“We in Nigeria, I’m sorry to say, talk more than we do. So this time around, Nigeria Forward is trying to drive also another process of making the talk turn to action,” he said.
Waiya said the platform would encourage citizens, particularly in the North, to move beyond sentiments and engage government with concrete development demands.
He also said proposals from citizens could influence government action, noting that some proposals had already been brought forward and adopted where they aligned with ministerial responsibilities.
