Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the President of the Arewa Youth Coalition, the same body that issued the October 1 quit notice to Igbos living in the North has said that Northern youth will manage President Muhammad Buhari till 2019, but will not seek to re-elect him to office.
Shettima in an interview with Sun, said that any politician above 60 years old was out of the political calculations of the youth, as they had failed their generation, and had nothing to offer this current generation and future generations.
The controversial Northern activist, also said that Arewa youth were prepared to vote for a Southerner if need be and that he had always been in support of merit-driven political options as opposed to those defined by religious or ethnic coloration.
He said, “Well, at this point in time we seek for good governance from any angle it comes. But time and events have also clearly shown that even the North we are talking about have not enjoyed anything out of all these arrangements. Now, let me give you an example. We had the government of Yar’Adua who came from the North, thinking that that government would appease a lot of things in the northern part of the country.
“Look at the situation in the northern part of the country. Today, you are in Kaduna. If you go to the core North, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Jigawa, Katsina states and other places, you will ask yourself where are all these northern governors? And what are they doing with all the powers that we are talking about that we have acquired over time? Where did the government miss the point? There is simply a missing link between the ruling class and the average northerner. This is why there is hardship all over the northern part of the country. The issues of Almajirai, poverty, backwardness, lack of proper education in the northern part of the country are things giving us sleepless nights all the time.
“Now you begin to ask yourself where are we missing the point? To us there are so many views to all these. Some of us are thinking if it was a military regime that would have been a different thing but this is a democracy. We had Yar’Adua in place; he stayed for only two years and he died. Jonathan took over for six years we couldn’t get the eight years we sought for and now again Buhari from the same Katsina State in the North-west who came and in less than two years he is sick.
“Clearly you could see that we have not enjoyed anything in all of these arrangements. We have not gotten exactly what we wanted. A lot of things are not normal. So now we are praying that the president gets well and comes back because at least we will be relaxed and say, ok 2019, probably he might not contest and we will look for a vibrant young man…
“I am saying we should manage him (Buhari) till 2019 because we can’t take that constitutional right away. That’s what I am saying. But definitely in 2019, never again will we allow anybody up to 60 years and above to be at the helms of affairs in the country, anywhere. We will no longer be looking up to any old man of 60 and above again and be hoping that something good will come out of him.
Shettima said he maintains a statement he made in 2013 where he said “the problem of the average Northern man is not where the president comes from, whether from the North or South…What they want is a government that will provide dividends of governance, give them free education, ensure that they have food on their table. It doesn’t matter if the person is a Christian or a Muslim or Pagan or Idol worshiper, nobody cares. If we find a better alternative somewhere other than the North we will mobilize and support the person.”