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  • Sultan, Yari, Muslim leaders seek urgent action against social media abuse, rising insecurity

    Sultan, Yari, Muslim leaders seek urgent action against social media abuse, rising insecurity

    Top Islamic leaders and lawmakers in Northern Nigeria have raised fresh concerns over rising insecurity and the growing misuse of social media, warning that the nation risks sliding into chaos if decisive action is not taken.

    Speaking at a special summit of Northern Ulamas in Kaduna, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, represented by the Emir of Zazzau, Amb. Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli called for urgent regulation of social media, which he said is being used to spread division and hatred.

    “This is the time to unite the Muslim Ummah,” the Sultan urged. “Our clerics must preach peace, tolerance, and national unity in line with Islamic teachings.”

    House Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, who also addressed the summit, called for stronger collaboration between Islamic leaders and lawmakers to shape policies that promote peace and good governance.

    “Security is everyone’s business,” Doguwa said. “We in the National Assembly will support any initiative that unites our people and upholds Islamic values.”

    READ ALSO: CBN, finance ministry present Nigeria’s economic progress at G24 meetings

    Senator Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara West) echoed similar concerns, noting that insecurity has deep roots in the North, especially in mineral-rich communities.

    “Insecurity started in Muslim-dominated areas,” Yari said. “We can’t blame the government alone. The solution lies in our hands — in unity, action, and honest dialogue.”

    He warned against the region’s worsening economic gap, saying: “We’re sleeping in our rooms and expecting to become billionaires. It doesn’t work that way. We must address economic realities.”

    On the issue of social media, Yari was blunt, “Social media doesn’t spare anyone — rich or poor. We are all victims of its abuse. It’s time to regulate it and use it responsibly, like other nations do.”

    Prominent cleric, Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, called for dialogue among Islamic sects to tackle poverty and banditry, which he said are being exploited by external forces.

    “Banditry is being fueled by outsiders who covet our mineral wealth,” Gumi warned. “They use uneducated herders as pawns in a larger game. We must talk among ourselves and end it internally.”

    He urged a review of existing laws to curb social media defamation without stifling freedom of expression. “This summit is not against anyone,” he said, “but about the unity and progress of Nigeria.”

    The summit ended with a collective call for inter-sect cooperation, peaceful dialogue, and stronger religious leadership to address insecurity, disunity, and economic hardship across the North.

  • Yari outlines feeding programme for 250,000 homes

    Yari outlines feeding programme for 250,000 homes

    Senator representing Zamfara West has announced plans to distribute foodstuffs to 250,000 households during Ramadan.  

    This initiative is to alleviate hunger and ensure families observe the month with   comfort.

    Under this programme, spanning all 13 local governments, each council will get 17,500 bags of rice, millet, sugar, and maize.

    The state capital and Gusau Local Government, in addition, are to benefit from 22,500 bags.

    In a special gesture, orphans and women will receive 10,000 bags of rice, millet, sugar, and maize.

    Male orphans will be provided with Sallah clothes and N2,000 for tailoring, while female orphans are to get atamfa, with N2,000 for crafting.

    Read Also: Tension as Senate meets over N3tr alleged padding of 2024 budget on Tuesday

    All Progressives Congress members in Zamfara belonging to Yari’s camp have special provisions across all local governments and 147 wards, with provisions made for 2,970internally displaced persons.

    This initiative, now a tradition, underscored the commitment of the senator to uplift the less privileged and foster a unity and compassion in the community.

    It’s also a testimony of the spirit of Ramadan, which encourages  charity, kindness, and solidarity.

    “As preparations for the distribution commenced, the senator asked stakeholders to support this cause and extend a hand to those in need.

    ‘‘Together, let us make this Ramadan a time of abundance, empathy, and goodwill for all’’, he said.

  • Yari, Ningi lead northern senators to visit Kaduna airstrike victims

    Yari, Ningi lead northern senators to visit Kaduna airstrike victims

    A delegation of the Northern Senators Forum visited the injured victims and families of the deceased of the tragic airstrike that occurred in Tudun Biri village, Kaduna state on December 3, 2023.

    The delegation, led by the chairman of the forum, Senator Abdul Ningi, and Senator Abdulaziz Yari expressed their deepest condolences to the affected families and offered their support during this difficult time.

    According to a statement by the media office of Senator Yari in Abuja, the chairman of the forum, Senator Ningi announced a generous donation of N58 million to the victims from the 58 northern senators.

    The statement read: “This contribution demonstrates the commitment of the Northern Senators to supporting their constituents in times of need.”

    Speaking on the tragedy, Senator Yari, representing Zamfara West, expressed his profound grief and condemned the incident.

    Read Also: Kaduna bombing: Gov kicks over DHQ’s statement, demands retraction

    He stated: “Our hearts go out to all the families affected by this senseless tragedy. We witnessed firsthand the immense pain and suffering caused by this event.

    “We pray for the deceased, their families, and a speedy recovery for the injured.”

    Senator Yari also called for stronger measures to ensure that such accidental deaths do not reoccur, while also welcoming the investigation by the authorities into the cause of the accident.

  • Over 5000 killed in Zamfara by bandits since 2009, says Yari

    •A’isha Buhari pledges to support victims
    •10, 000 houses razed by hoodlums *N20b spent on logistics

    NO fewer than 5000 lives in about 500 villages have been lost from 2009 to date when banditry started in Zamfara State, Governor Abdul Aziz Yari Abubakar said yesterday.

    He gave the figures during the distribution of 5,000 assorted relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by the President’s wife, Hajiya A’ishatu Buhari, in Gusau, the state capital.

    The first lady was represented by the Administrative Liaison Officer of her pet programme, Future Assurance Foundation, Hajiya Fadimatu Rafin Dadi.

    The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman stated that about 10, 000 houses were razed and over 13,000 hectares of farmland remain uncultivated.

    He said the relief materials, which were distributed by the president’s wife, was timely, assuring that they would be judiciously distributed and utilised.

    Yari, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Abdullahi Muhammad Shinkafi, said his administration has assisted security agencies with 570 Hilux vehicles.

    He added that he has provided administrative office and logistics for over 4,000 security operatives deployed to the state in the last seven years estimated at about N20 billion.

    According to the governor, there were only 27 security men on ground in 2009.

    Yari said N5 billion was disbursed to the victims of various attacks at different times.

    He gave the breakdown of such assistance as N500,000 given to families of those killed, N250,000 to those injured and same amount also to those whose houses or silos were burnt.

    In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency, Sunusi Muhammad Kwatarkwashi, an engineer, said available record with the agency shows that there are 37,000 IDPs that were forced to take shelter in various locations across the state. They included 4,634 men, 9,269 women and 23,172 children.

    Kwatarkwashi added that from 2018 to date, 586 people were killed, 267 injured, 338 kidnapped, some of whom, according to him, have  returned.

    He said the rest of those kidnapped are still in captivity in the hands of their abductors, stressing that silos and houses were burnt aside from rustled animals.

    Mrs. Buhari, however, pledged to keep supporting families, especially victims of insecurity and banditry attacks across Zamfara State and other affected areas.

    She said her foundation is making an effort to better the lives of the IDPs, urging them to be calm, resolute and believe that their travails is an act of God.

     

  • Yari hails military operations

    ZAMFARA State Governor and Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum Abdul’aziz Yari Abubakar has hailed the ongoing operation by the Army and other security agencies against bandits and criminals.

    The governor expressed his delight when the Force Commander of the Operation Sharan Daji Major General Hakeem Oladapo Okiti visited the Government House, Gusau, at the weekend.

    Yari said reports from the areas, where the deadly acts of the bandits had been intense, indicated that the efforts by the combined military operations are yielding positive results.

    The governor told the commander the extent at which the people of Zamfara State suffered from the killings of innocent lives and destruction of property by bandits. He added that the situation has halted commercial activities in many areas.

    The governor explained that the state in 2015 had not experienced kidnapping, but cattle rustling and reprisal attacks until thereafter when the menace became the order of the day.

    He, therefore, called on the Army and other security agencies to put an end to banditry by sustaining the ongoing operations.

    Maj.-Gen. Hakeem Okiti briefed the governor on the operation being carried out in diverse locations. He thanked the governor on the support the Army is enjoying while carrying out their duties.

  • Zamfara bandits better equipped than military, says Yari

    The Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari on Tuesday raised the alarm that the armed bandits terrorizing the state and other states in the North West have more sophisticated equipment than the Nigerian military.

    Yari spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, it was discovered that the bandits have over 500 AK 47 assault rifles in their possession during the meeting the state government team including the military had with the miscreants.

    Yari, who is Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum (NGF), said that the meeting was to dialogue with the bandits for them to lay down their arms.

    He regretted that no meaningful achievement was recorded.

    He also said that the government team including the security agents took pictures with the bandits inside their armoury, adding that the only solution to flush the bandits out was the provision of adequate equipment to the military and a show of force.

    Yari welcomed the suggestion by his Katsina State counterpart, Aminu Bello Masari for collaborations between Katsina, Zamfara, and part of Niger Republic to curb the issue of banditry in the North West.

    He said: “Well, I think it is not just state by state matter but a regional problem. Because, we are surrounded by forests. We have Kuyambana to Rugu down to Maradi Republic.

    “The bandits are taking advantage of the fact that we are living like an Island because we are surrounded by forests from Sokoto we have Basuguma around, in Kaduna, Birnin Gwari, Niger, we have Kuyambana Dansado forest there, in Katsina, we have Rugu and at South East of Zamfara where we have Maradi, we have forest there.

    “So as the governor of Katsina said, we have to collaborate. I know our security chiefs meet quarterly to review their performance, the gain and the loss, the same thing goes for our brothers in Maladi.

    “I think the operations need to be carried out simultaneously because the issue is we are surrounded by a forest. The point is, when Katsina puts pressure on the bandits they will run into the forest in Zamfara, if Zamfara puts pressure on them, then they will move to Minna or Birnin Gwari. So this is the issue, so there is need for collaboration.

    “So the soldiers need to be equipped with the equipment that can stand the test of time. Monday, when we were having our security meeting, we could understand the constraints of the security personnel that are on ground there.

    “We are definitely going to collaborate, especially since I am running on the last lap of my full tenure, I will ensure that in these months that are left, we will leave behind a peaceful state for the new administration that is coming in.” he said

    On whether there was the likelihood of having new equipment delivered to the army to confront the bandits he said that the federal government had already given procurement contracts for the supply of military equipment.

    He said, “The federal government has already given procurement contracts, inter-government transaction to the United States, China and other European countries. Recall that in 2017, the Nigeria Governors Forum, approved $1 billion to support the federal government’s effort in equipping the security agencies.

    “We believe the equipment will soon come into the country and it is our hope that the equipment will be used so that this worrisome situation that we are will become history.”

    Ruling out the possibility of having dialogues with the group terrorizing the state, he said that previous attempts made to dialogue with the bandits did not produce any positive results.

  • Labour, Yari, Ngige differ on N27,000 minimum wage for states

    FRESH controversies broke out yesterday over the new Minimum Wage Bill, which has scaled Second Reading in both chambers of the National Assembly.

    Finance Minister Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Labour & Employment Minister Chris Ngige and Labour disagreed on the bill.

    The bickering was at the public hearing of the House of Representatives ad-Hoc Committee on new Minimum Wage, headed by the Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun.

    The Federal government will pay N30, 000 as the minimum wage to its workers, Dr. Ngige said at the hearing.

    According to him, the N27,000 minimum wage contained in the National Minimum Wage Act Amendment Bill as sent to the National Assembly, is for the states and the Organised Private Sector (OPS).

    The minister said the initial wage figure approved by the Federal Government was N27, 000, which was later reviewed upwards to N30, 000, when they met with the National Council of State (NCS).

    Ngige told the committee that the issue of a national minimum wage is a national matter, which the government is committed to.

    He said the government set up a tripartite committee, which comprised members of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and other groups that came up with the new wage.

    The minister added that the new wage figure is in tandem with international conventions on labour matters and there was a general consensus on the figure.

    Labour disagreed at this point, even though Ngige said the Federal Government has agreed to pay its own workers the N30,000 minimum wage.

    It insisted that the wage should be all-encompassing for federal and state workers.

    NLC President Ayuba Wabba did not disagree, but proposed four amendment to the bill.

    Read also: 27,000 minimum wage bill scales second reading

    “We have four amendments that we are proposing here. Amendment one is about the figure. In the current bill, Item 1(a) provides for a minimum wage of N27, 000; we want to say and plead that the figure should be made to be N30, 000,” he said.

    Even the Employers & Small and Medium Entrepreneur Associations also insisted on the recommendations of the tripartite committee for N30, 000.

    But, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Chairman and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari was embarrassed by the workers, who disrupted his address.

    The NGF chair told the gathering that because the revenue allocation formula had not been favourable to the state governors, they resisted the new wage bill initially.

    He insisted that for equity and fairness in revenue sharing among the three tiers of government to be enthroned, there is the need to review the revenue allocation formula.

    He incurred the wrath of the workers when he said the position of the National Council of State on the new wage bill, which recommended N27, 000, is acceptable to the governors.

    The Finance Minister told the lawmakers that the government has not factored the new wage bill into the 2019 Budget.

    It was a hall packed full of workers, with a palpable air of expectations and anticipation. Her statement seemed to dampen the enthusiasm of the labour members in the hall.

    She, however, said the government had paid salaries, allowances and pensions of federal civil servants up to a hundred per cent.

    According to her, the government had paid N2.6 trillion and N3.0 trillion generated same period.

    She cautioned of a revenue shortfall and added that the government is working to address it.

    Budget Office Director-General Ben Akabueze, who represented the Minister of Budget & National Planning, Udo Udoma, said though the Federal Government was able to pay, but some states are spending more than 70 per cent of revenues available to them on salary, that’s why the president took the step to constitute the tripartite committee to come up with a framework to ensure that the new wage is sustainable.

    The House Speaker Yakubu Dogara said the N30, 000 minimum wage being canvassed is not enough.

    According to him, it can barely feed a small family unit, adding that it is only when workers are dignified with wages that can provide them minimum comfort that their productivity level would increase.

    The ad-hoc committee said it has resolved to ensure that the new Minimum Wage Act 2019 is passed into law before the commencement of the 2019 general elections.

    Lasun explained why the House accelerated the process of passing the bill, adding that the review is long overdue.

    He said the N27, 000 has already been rejected by labour and the National Assembly is expected to do the needful.

     

  • 36 governors behind Buhari’s second term bid, says Yari

    NIGERIA Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari said yesterday in Abuja that the 36 state governors, including those from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), are working for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.

    The governor, who spoke at the formal public unveiling of the Forward with Buhari Grassroots Mobilisers in Abuja, said the governors were the ones funding the movement and would have been present, but for official state functions, which they are attending.

    However, a senior member of the movement stated that two unnamed PDP governors have made financial contributions to the group, which is expected to embark on mass mobilisation of Nigerians for the President’s second term bid.

    The Zamfara State governor claimed his colleagues took the decision to support the President’s re-election bid based on his record performance in the last three and half years.

    He said: “Mr. President, you have done something that is unexpected, when 27 out of 36 governors could not pay salary, you had to bail out the states or else some of us will have relocated back to Abuja.

    “If he can do this irrespective of party, it is time to pay back. Those that stay with Buhari, even his opponents, know his zero-tolerance to corruption.

    “It is about three weeks to the election. We need to work harder; we should go back home and gear up to return Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari for a second time.

    “You know why governors are backing Buhari? I knew what happened in the past administration and now. The president has given us infrastructure. It has been right to ride behind him. We will do all to support this group.”

    APC Deputy National Chairman (North) Senator Lawal Shuaibu said the Forward with Buhari Movement was the brain child of the NGF.

    Shuaibu, who is the group’s National Coordinator, said: “It is unique that the sponsors of the campaign group, who no doubt consider themselves among the most critical stakeholders in this important history-making project of returning President Buhari and you to continue in office in 2019 are members of the Nigeria Governors Forum!

    “Your excellency will be surprised that I did not say Progressives Governors Forum. Yes, it is not a mistake; The Nigeria Governors Forum, led by Zamfara State Governor AbdulAzeez Yari Abubakar.

    “What makes the governors among the most critical stakeholders in this project is that even Mr. President, in constituting his campaign council, appointed them as his state coordinators! No doubt, nobody can coordinate the states more than the governors as they are key to any election in any presidential system of democracy like our own.

    “The group named itself ‘Forward With Buhari’ as its mandate is to move with the APC presidential candidate to the Next Level. The main mandate of the group in this campaign your exellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, is to create visibility of the campaign on a sustained momentum as well as create awareness and endear the Brand of Buhari/Osinbajo in the hearts of Nigerian voters.

    “They do this through their grass-root mobilisers, who are sponsored to engage people at polling unit levels, by consistently reminding the common man of the laudable achievements of the Buhari administration in the nation’s various sectors that positively touched on the life of not only every ordinary citizen of this country, but we can say every Nigerian.

    “These young people have been equipped with a catalogue of most laudable projects initiated by Buhari administration as well as those he completed as a result of the inability of the previous government to do so, largely because the money to complete such important projects was visibly misappropriated.

    “Our young people are also adequately informed on the level of progress made in addressing the challenges posed by insecurity all over the country; a situation inherited by President Buhari.

    “They are equally fully aware of the change they have experienced in the effort to reduce poverty at the grassroots level, through the various social intervention programmes of the Buhari administration.

    “Let me inform you that this group has in its fold, mobilisers, canvassers, sensitisers, social media campaigners, door-to-door voter education experts and many others and are quite ready to commence their activities through the print and electronic media as well as the various social media platforms in a rather unique way.

    “The group is also expected to sustain a strategic momentum of campaign, especially whenever Mr. President and yourself visit any state to conduct your campaign rallies and depart. They are expected thereafter to occupy the entire space until the last day of campaign in line with the guidelines released by INEC. For your information sir, the APC youth leaders in every state, at all levels down to the polling units are going to be engaged in this project for coordination at their respective levels.”

  • Insecurity: I’m ready to quit as gov – Yari

    *Says insecurity won’t affect elections

     

    The Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, on Thursday said that if declaration of state of emergency in his state will solve the security problems, he is ready to quit as governor.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Noting that the security situation in the state has improved, he said the bandits responsible for the insecurity breed their cattle in the forest and strike occasionally.

    Read Also: FRSC targets to make highways more safer in 2019

    He also accused the security agencies especially the police of not doing enough, lamenting that some of the officers that were transferred out of the state after serving three years have not been replaced.

    According to him, the lingering cases of armed banditry in the state won’t affect the forthcoming election.

    While stating that he met the President over the security situation in the state, he said the issue of the armed banditry was being exaggerated.

    “There is no place being occupied by the armed bandits in Zamfara state. They live and operate in the forest. They strike and run. Most of the camps are known by locals,” he said.

    On his support for declaration of emergency in Zamfara, he said he was not playing politics with it, saying ” I’m not playing politics with it. I’m serious about it.”

    Asked whether he discussed the declaration of emergency with Buhari, he said, ” not at all.“

  • Emergency: Yari disgraces Zamfara governorship

    IN response to the killings going on in Zamfara State, academicians, leaders of thought, youth groups, and now the governor, have all lent support to the president issuing a proclamation of a state of emergency in the troubled state. While the killings have been going on for years, and are assuming a dimension that is both destabilising and troubling, it is hard to see any sense in calling for a state of emergency. In fact, as the Arewa Youth Forum excessively and heedlessly put it, military rule would be most expeditious to solve the Zamfara conundrum. Last week, both the governor, Abdulaziz Yari, and a senator representing Zamfara Central, Kabiru Marafa, called for a state of emergency, with the senator suggesting that the call did not imply that the governor had failed in his responsibility. The governor had jumped on the emergency proclamation bandwagon when a group of four concerned academics suggested that the situation in the state had spiralled beyond the governor’s control and needed some strong-arm measures.

    Hundreds have been killed in the state, and some communities have simply become lawless. For years, the government had responded with palliatives, in addition to military deployment. The governor himself has been largely absentee, incoherent and ineffective. The political situation in the state is also riven by division, as the last All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary clearly showed. Whole communities are being administered without reference to the constitution, leading to large scale slaughter and violent protests. The call for emergency, Zamfarans hope, is expected to restore peace to the state and stanch the flow of blood. While governance has been desultory and ineffective, and the governor himself irresponsible, it is doubtful whether a state of emergency is the solution. And while Zamfara has its own dangerous dynamics and peculiarities, it is not the only state convulsed by violence or by dire socio-economic conditions and political divisions.

    It is, therefore, shocking that a governor constitutionally empowered to request the president to issue a proclamation of a state of emergency finds himself backing the measure only after groups of individuals began calling for it. If he knew the situation had deteriorated so badly why did he wait for others to make the suggestion? Mr Yari is obviously not proactive enough, and his lack of diligence is being capitalised upon to set a bad precedence that might enable an equally detached and ineffective presidency to put a spanner in the works of democracy. The people of Zamfara may not care anything about the niceties of democracy in the face of widespread breakdown of law and order, but it is dangerous for those who know and care about how the democratic system works and the dangers it faces to supinely acquiesce to the state of emergency measure. It is wrong and short-sighted.

    The federal government controls the military and the police. What deployments does it want to make that it does not already have both the misshapen law on its side and the leeway to do so? It is true that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the president to proclaim a state of emergency in any state after fulfilling some eight conditions listed in Subsection 3. But the National Assembly must, under Subsection 2, give assent. It is not certain in this case that they will. The tragedy unfolding in Zamfara is worsened by the fact that under Subsection 4, the governor needs to secure the assent of the State House of Assembly in order to ask the president to issue the proclamation. Yet, the governor, on his return from a trip in Saudi Arabia last Thursday, simply told the press that he backed the idea of issuing a state of emergency proclamation. Obviously he does not even read the constitution.

    The killings in Benue, Borno, Yobe and other places, including previously in Plateau, are as severe as those of Zamfara State, if not more, and yet no proclamation of emergency has been issued. It will be illogical to do so in the present situation in Zamfara despite the attacks still going on in the state. By holding on tenaciously to the security apparatuses of the country, the federal government makes itself the chief culprit in any breakdown of law and order. Its security architecture is outdated and incompetent, as demonstrated by the ding-dong in the counterinsurgency operations in the Northeast, while its control and supervision of the law enforcement agencies, chiefly the police, is also backward and negligent.

    President Buhari should avoid controversy and emergency proclamation distractions by simply deploying his security forces to quell the revolt building up in Zamfara. If his government possesses the capacity to do the needful, it must investigate the factors predisposing states to instability and violence so that he can defuse the impending conflagration. Next year, as oil prices plummet far below budgetary estimates, and states are unable to embark on economic intervention projects or pay salaries in line with their monthly obligations, there will be more and widespread restiveness. Unfortunately for the president, restiveness is expected to grow in 2019 by leaps and bounds partly because of both the dire socio-economic conditions of the states and the malformed political structure of the country that inhibits development and stability. Since the government is unwilling to appreciate the nexus between the malformed and dysfunctional political structure of the country and the increasing immiseration of the people, they will be unable to devise the appropriate panaceas. They will stick to poorly conceived measures and showy military operations like Operation Python Dance, and other law enforcement tactics that will neither work in the short run nor prove adequate and relevant in the long run.

    Why the Buhari presidency is unwilling to, or perhaps cannot, connect the dots in the widespread breakdown of law and order in the country, not to say the increasing alienation noticeable everywhere, is hard to fathom. They are unlikely to finally resolve the crisis in the Northeast, despite reiterating that fact during the presidential campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, manage the flare-ups in other parts of the country, make the highways and communities safe for the people, and harness the potentials of hard-working Nigerians to forge a great country. Meanwhile in connection with Zamfara, the government should perish the thought of issuing a proclamation of a state of emergency. It controls the security forces and has deployed them whimsically in many states regardless of the democratic tenets of the country and the protests of the local population. Let it also do the same in this blighted state without further insulting the constitution.