North has no business with poverty, says VP Shettima

• He stated that the agenda of the meeting will focus on how to get the North out of the economic and security conundrum it’s currently enmeshed in

Vice president, Kashim Shettima, has said the scourge of widespread poverty in the north is unsettling.

He said the region has no business being populated by impoverished uneducated people as it is blessed with enormous natural and human resources to thrive and prosper.

Shettima made this known in an interview with the Radio France RFI Hausa Service; monitored by our correspondent in Kaduna on Sunday.

He said he was doing what he could as the Vice President to tackle the myriad of challenges facing the beleaguered region.

According to him, a meeting of critical stakeholders from the north, which will include Governors, wealthy individuals, politicians and others, irrespective of religion or tribe, will be convened soon.

He stated that the agenda of the meeting will focus on how to get the North out of the economic and security conundrum it’s currently enmeshed in.

He said: “We have no business with poverty in the North. Allah has blessed us with everything. We shall with our wealthy Northerners like the richest black man in the world, Aliko Dangote, Alhaji AbdulSamad, Dahiru Mangal, Alhaji Muhammad Ndimi, Gen T Y Danjuma, AYM Shafa,AA Rano…..all the rich tycoons from all parts of the North, and our Northern political leaders who have the North at heart,….we shall sit down and it’s not going to be a tea party, ..we shall get a genuine commitment from these Northerners and in shaa Allah, there is going to be unity and a good way forward for the North,” he said.

On the problems debilitating the North and whether the Government has anything in stock for the region, the Vice President said “Really, the Government has good intentions to help our people in the North.”

“We have a foundation that will assist in the field of agriculture and 100 billion was put aside for that purpose.We intend to assist 500 million farmers. You and I know that the majority of the farmers are in the North. Furthermore,it’s due to the love for our people that the President established the Ministry of Livestock and we all know the majority of the livestock herders are in the North. Also, from the government’s food reserves, we brought out about 42,000 tons of food because of the high cost of living and high cost of foodstuff. We want to bring an end to our people’s suffering.”

“For Government workers, you know there’s an increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000. Also, I would like to reiterate to our people that the President has good intentions and has been commending them. In shaa Allah ( by the will of Allah), whatever step that should be taken, that will be done to help them. We know they are in hardship. We commiserate with them”