Outspoken elder and former liason officer to Shehu Shagari on the National Assembly, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has declared that some significant issues that determined the 2015 election in the region, would not affect the 2019 exercise.
Yakasai said the north would no longer be influenced by issues of religion, ethnicity and sectionalism which favoured President Muhammadu Buhari because he is from the region.
In an interview with Daily Sun, Yakasai, who noted that the two major candidates for the 2019 presidential election, Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, are both from the same region, added that the voters in the area would look at who has the better chance of making Nigeria better than what it is currently.
READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda
“I am more at home with the present situation than the 2015 situation. Why I am at home is that the serious contentious issues such as religion, ethnicity, sectionalism are now not part of the campaigns. In 2015, those three issues drove the campaigns because Buhari was from the north, was Hausa-Fulani and a Muslim.
“Jonathan who contested with him was an Ijaw man from the South and a Christian. So, now these three controversial issues are no longer present.
“Now, the two major contestants, Buhari and Atiku are from the same ethnic group, same section of the country and same religion. So, these controversial issues are no longer the driving forces.
“So, what should be the programme issue is: how are they going to make Nigeria better than it has been. So, I hope they will do that, but not in the way it was done previously.
“Previously, politicians hire seasoned journalists and academicians to write good English as programmes for them only to help them sell themselves to their parties, but hardly are policies based on the realities on ground. Now, the problems facing Nigerians are those of massive unemployment, poverty and security.
“Formerly, in 2015 the major issue was Boko Haram. Today, Boko Haram has changed its tactics. Before they were hitting markets and other civilian targets and so on and that was making them very unpopular,” he said adding that they have now decided to leave the civilian target and concentrate on the security forces stressing: “That is why they are now able to kill 100 and 200 soldiers and policemen.”
PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates
Yakasai said that this time around, the manifestoes of candidates are based on realities on the ground including the problems of massive unemployment and so on.
“And you can address the issue of unemployment by paying attention to agriculture, modernizing agriculture, investing heavily on agriculture.
“You don’t need to generate funds to spend on agriculture. You can partner with the private sector and in a matter of one, two years you will experience a drastic change,” he said.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, the brain behind the Northern Elders’ Council, recently shared his own opinion on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
Yakasai, who was a political adviser of former President Shehu Shagari was a guest Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily today, Tuesday, September 8.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.
Between Buhari’s Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
