A former senator, Kabiru Marafa, has asked the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle to withdraw his statement describing the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as a “burden” and “paperweights”.
Mr Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central Senatorial District in the Senate between 2011 and 2019, made the demand in a statement on Sunday.
The Minister of Defence recently said the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is a political burden to the North and that most of the comments from the group are more or less a political paperweight trying to embark on a destructive journey that will bring the North to disrepute for the group’s personal and selfish gain.
The minister was apparently responding to comments from the Northern elders who said the Northern region regrets supporting President Bola Tinubu to win the 2023 presidential election.
Mr Matawalle’s comment is generating controversies among Nigerians especially among the Northerners and some have demanded an unreserved apology from the minister.
Mr Marafa advised Mr Matawalle, who is a former governor of Zamfara State, to publicly apologise to elders in the Northern region and the entire Northerners in the interest of the unity of the country.
Tinubu holds Northern elders in high esteem
Mr Marafa said the comment of the defence minister was not the position of President Tinubu.
He noted that the president holds the Northern region, the Northerners, and their leaders in high esteem.
“As one of the senators who worked very closely with Asiwaju as party leader (as he was then called) from the formation of APC through the primaries that led to the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as APC presidential candidate in Lagos, the politics of the National Assembly leadership in 2015 and 2019 and the processes and intrigues that characterised the 2023 Presidential Primaries, I can say without mincing words that President Tinubu holds the North, the Northerners, and their leaders in high esteem.
“Although, I’m not the mouthpiece of either the president or the Presidency, as a Northerner and an elder in the region, as an APC stakeholder and one that has worked closely with both the president and the Vice President, I want to state categorically that this view expressed by Mr Matawalle is his personal opinion and not in any way that of Mr President or the Presidency, and should, therefore, be disregarded.
“I know for sure that the North, Northerners and the Northern elders are neither a burden nor a paperweight in the scheme of things in the region and the country as a whole. The president shares this view, and therefore he is with me on this,” the former senator added.
Insult on elders
Mr Marafa also claimed that the Northern elders are worried and disturbed about the derogatory statement made by the defence minister.
He maintained that insulting the Northern elders is equated to insulting the entire people in the Northern region.
“In the last one week, I have been inundated with calls from well-meaning and prominent stakeholders in our region and party, the APC, who know my relationship with the President.
“They are worried and disturbed that the unfortunate statement by the Minister of State for Defence, if not addressed, could affect the president’s electoral fortunes in our region because it will be seen as if the minister spoke the mind of the president or the Presidency.
“The crux of the matter is that, whether you like them or not these people are called Northern Elders, so, unless they are stripped of that title by the people of the region, insulting them is tantamount to insulting the entire people of the region.
“It’s not in our culture and upbringing to insult elders. No decent society will refer to its elders as a burden and paperweights. The North is not an exception,” he said. (Premium Times)
