By Ibrahim Kabiru Dallah
On my way to work last week in Abuja, a promising young man from Nasarawa State approached me, “are you not Comrade Dallah”, I said “what’s the problem”, and he continued, “so you are alive and your people are dying for no reason because of Al-Makura maladministration in Nasarawa Sate but you are here in the National Assembly enjoying yourself without feeling the pains”, the young man asked again, “please, don’t be offended, have you been bought by the government?”
These were part of the serious conversation I had with the young man from Nasarawa State that’s roaming about on the street of Abuja in search of a white collar job. Immediately I placed a call to some of my friends in Lafia, the capital city of Nasarawa State to confirm some of the issues raised, and you know what, he was absolutely correct about the state of things in Nasarawa.
First and foremost, I am the ONLY active young person from Nasarawa State that refused to be manipulated by the government for financial gains, not because I am a SAINT but because I so much believes that it is always good to be by the side of the people’s, as we are all aware the voice of the young people in Nasarawa State is already lost, we have no voice again since some of the self-acclaimed former Student and youth leaders have sold their birthright to the government at the detriment of the people.
As a matter of fact, the future of an ordinary youth in the State is VOID, for how long shall we continue to be silent while things are moving in the wrong directions, it is high time for the young people to come out en-mass to send a high power signal to the Government of Al-Makura that things are not working in favour of the people, I don’t really know if there is Government in Nasarawa State.
Imagine, the leadership of the Students in the State that their future is not even assured after graduation are celebrating the recent so called approval of the Bursary by the State government while their brothers and sisters are at home for over a month based on the fact that Nasarawa State University Keffi is on strike, it is alright, these guy’s are only after the remittances that will comeback to them after the payment of the bursary, we are watching them keen interest since they are only interested mortgaging their future for peanuts.
As a stakeholder in the Nasarawa State project, I owe my generation a duty to always agitate for them because it is not all of them that have a voice to always speak to power that be in the State, though, I am less concerned if they tagged me as an opposition in the State.
For record purpose, we have 250 Staffs in Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA) but they are all CASUAL WORKERS, only the 26 PA’s and SA’s to the Honourable members that are PERMANENT STAFFS of the state House of Assembly, where did we get it wrong?
Of truth, the young people in the State are marginalized not just because of anything but because the government are not comfortable with some of us that are at the forefront of the activism in the State. However, we are working it out as young people in order to solve the problem in our own ways.
It is truism that Nasarawa State is not a centre of business, only those working with government are in a better position to earn money at the end of the month, be as it may, their salaries is being paid on percentage for over a year now, for God sake, people are dying because their salaries can not longer pay their medical bills talk more of feeding their family members.
It is not longer news that our graduates are equally suffering on the street of Nasarawa State and Nigeria by extension based on the fact the Al-Makura has intentionally refuses to employ the young people to the workforce of the State since the inception of the his government. But over 7000 (Seven Thousand) young people has been sacked from the workforce without any cogent reason. Where are we heading to and where are those activists are have gone criminally silent.
Although, I am not a student of history but I am a custodian of history, for the few years spent on earth, I had never read anywhere that it is good for democratically elected Governor to appoint “Sole Administrators” as leaders of the Local Governments, what we have in Nasarawa State is anarchy NOT democracy.
Honestly, Al-Makura as a person lack the wherewithal to lead Nasarawa people to the promise land, as such, if I may have my way, I will definitely ask Governor Al-Makura to resign in order to bring on board someone that has the capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.
Consequently upon the foregoing, I want to sincerely invite activists, Amnesty International, NLC, TUC, NANS, Civil Society groups, NBA, EFCC to come to our head in Nasarawa State.
#Dazzol
My Name Is Ibrahim Kabiru Dallah, I Represent Nasarawa South Senatorial District In The Nigerian Youth Parliament, Federal Republic Of Nigeria, @ik_dallah On Twitter.