Former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, has called for a rapid end to the ongoing banditry in the North, warning that if left unchecked, the matter could lead to a food insecurity crisis.
Bafarawa, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, told Punch Newspapers on Sunday that food insecurity and educational backwardness are two potential threats to the North’s development.
According to the PDP party official, food security is a greater threat to the country’s survival than the recently eliminated fuel subsidy.
“Instead of talking about cabinet, subsidy and the economy, the government should consider food security because with the rate we are going, in the next three months, we are definitely going to have problems in Nigeria, especially in the North-West,” he said
Bafarawa noted that a number of farmlands in the north were no longer cultivated because of the threat of bandits.
“This is a very dangerous situation, not only because the bandits are killing people but also the food scarcity is going to be too serious in the next few months, especially in the North-West and the North-East. So, we want the government to wake up and do something about it,” he said.
Furthermore, Bafarawa raised concerns that northern students could lag behind their southern counterparts in the coming years due to school closures caused by bandit activity.
“There are no primary schools, no secondary schools and this is a serious disaster. So, we cannot sit down and watch; something must be done right before it gets worse,” he added.
