Former Governor of Niger state, Dr. Babangida Aliyu has said any Governor that is frustrated and tired of security situation in his state should resign and go back to his village.
He stated this while delivering a paper titled “Place of Colleges of Education in the Development of Nigeria” at the 50th golden anniversary of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto on Sunday.
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“I was surprised when i saw a headline that Governors are tired of insecurity. No Governor should be frustrated and tired of security, otherwise he should resign and go back to his village,” he said
“A chairman of the local government has a job and many Governors have no respect for traditional rulers and they are the ones that have the intelligence.
” The Governors must use every institution that is with them to do their job, because their primary job is to secure the life and properties of their people.
“So when I saw that headlines on all the national dailies I was shocked.”
According to him, the issue of security is a collective responsibility adding that during his reign, he owned all the federal government establishments in his state, including the security operatives and that was why he didn’t have much problem in Niger state.
“What i did then and i was happy and i did not have much problem was owning federal establishment. My argument was that if you are a military sent to Niger state, you were sent to help me not to kill me.
” So I own them and I was doing PR and social welfare for them. I don’t discriminate to say that they are not indigenes of the state. And if there was any security issue, I sent all of them and they were willing to go because they know I was willing to pay,” he said
Aliyu who is the alumnus of the college, added that “we didn’t wait for the federal government to send them money, otherwise we would all die,” he said.
While speaking on banditry, he stated that “there was a rumour that bandits were invited to fight Jonathan government. Whether that is true or not is immaterial now. But now even our own Fulanis have suffered, their cattle rustled and they are on revenge mission now.
The Governor also chided ASUU over their incessant strike, saying they should seemed to be professional than trade union.
