Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, has spoken out against the actions of bandits in the state, saying that they are starting to take over.
This is what the Governor said in his speech when he met with the Bauchi State Council of Emirs on Wednesday at the Government House’s Exco Chamber.
He said that because the federal government has been fighting robbers and terrorism in other parts of the country for a long time, bad people are hiding in the state and starting to cause trouble there.
He did say, though, that his government was not sitting on its laurels. Instead, he said, they were working hard to make sure that the lives and property of the people in the state were safe.
“In terms of internal security, I’m happy to tell you that we’ve set up a Ministry of Internal Security that will work with the Federal Government to make sure that internal security is taken care of. We have our own vigilante who works with the protection that is already in place.
“Other states are making progress, and we have one of the largest populations in the area. Because of what the Federal Government is doing in other parts of the geopolitical zones, the bandits are coming to Bauchi.”
“We’ll have to go above and beyond to checkmate them. We’re doing that, but it’s clear that we’ve got too much on our plates. That’s why we’re asking the Federal Government to help us and come to our aid, to do what they’re doing in the north-west, so that we can keep being a place of peace, as we have been for a long time.
“The Emir of Katagum is a well-known Emir who is always out watching at night. I want the other emirs to follow his lead and do what he is doing. It’s not that they aren’t doing it already, but your honesty is rare.
“We will try to be calm and patient with the people in charge of your districts and with the emirs. Even if we take someone out of a traditional organization or punish them, it hurts a lot. I don’t like it, but we have to do it when it looks like emirs, traditional kings, and so on aren’t following the rules of engagement.
“We’re just picking out a small number to show what not to do. We can’t afford to punish everyone who breaks the rules, so we just try to make people feel bad about what they did and get them back on track. We do this with a lot of sadness and apology. We don’t like to touch the institution because it’s a sign of how we’re all connected,” he said.
He warned Bola Tinubu not to disregard Bauchi State just because the People’s Democratic Party, which is the opposition party, is in charge of it.
He said, “Some of the infrastructures that will help us have been left out. I want the emirs to tell the new president that we need the railways from Enugu to Maiduguri to be fixed.” This was the first railroad track, but it is no longer used. Our roads are bad all the way from Akwanga to Jos to Bauchi to Gombe.
“But we want to thank His Excellency, the Vice President, on behalf of His Excellency, Bola Tinubu, who promised to fix the terrible road between Bauchi and Gombe. We will make time to go with you to Mr. President’s office to thank him for that and ask for other things.
“We can’t be left out just because we’re in the opposition; we have to be in the mainstream.” In Nigeria, nothing works without Bauchi. We control the balance of power, the balance of heritage, and the balance of knowledge, and with people like you, I’m asking the Federal Government not to ignore us just because we’re in the PDP. We are a state, and we’re ready to work with the federal government.”
Earlier, the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Emirs in the State, Umar Faruk II, who was speaking on behalf of the Chairman, the Emir of Bauchi, Suleiman Adamu, said that they were at the Government House to thank the Governor for his respect for the traditional institutions in the state.
“We are here to pay our brother, the governor, a courtesy visit and thank him for what he has done for us, the emirs, and the district heads,” he said.
