Kenny Ashaka
Spokesman of the Coalition of Northern Youths, Alhaji Abdul Aziz Suleiman, in this interview revealed the reasons his group is in support of the Western Nigeria Security Network code-named Amotekun, saying that their Shege Ka Fasa is literally a direct reaction to Amotekun, but not a negative one. Excerpts:
We would want to know much about the Coalition of Northern Youths. The last time we heard about this coalition was a few years ago when it issued an ultimatum to the Igbo to move out of the North. What can you tell us about this coalition and what is the link with other youth organizations in northern Nigeria?
There have been splinter groups that have been in existence for quite long. For instance, the Arewa Youths Development Foundation has been there since 1999 and the Arewa Citizens Action for Change has also been there and run by some people. We also have the Northern Emancipation Network also run by some people. You also have Arewa Youth Consultative Forum run by Shettima Yerima. There are a host of others pursuing different agenda all along. I was part of the Arewa Youth Development Foundation. We were known to have fought the case of Halliburton and third term and so forth. So, you see these groups have separate leaders, separate ideologies and separate agenda. If you take a look at our politics in 2014, the Northern Emancipation Network, which I led was not pro-North; it was not pro-Buhari. In fact, we fought vigorously for the continuation of Jonathan while some others were in support of a shift to the North. So, you can see we have different ideologies. But when we have critical issues affecting the North we come together, discuss it and take a common stand. After that we all go our separate ways and pursue our agenda. So, the Coalition of Northern Youths is not a political platform. It is just a platform meant for the protection of the North when it faces a critical problem and where it is obvious that the northern leaders are not ready to take action. As at now there are about…we started with about 16 groups spread across the North. We have the North Central Youth Vanguard or so. I can’t remember all of them off-hand because I am not with the list here. The first time we came into prominence was when we confronted the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in 2016 where we gave what came to be known as quit notice. That was when the activities of the coalition really came to the limelight. From then we were outspoken on the issue of RUGA and others that had to do with the North and northerners, not northern politics. People should get this clear. We have been engaging our counterparts in the South that so long as their opposition to the Buhari government would be extended to his tribe, his religion and his entire region, they will have opposition from us. Let them engage Buhari on the basis of his personality, his politics and other things because we are also not comfortable with him and his government. But so long as they talk of Islamisation and Islamisation, we are not going to take it kindly with them. We have been telling them. They are all our friends, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Yoruba Youth Council and others. We all have friends there. And we have been telling them that we are not going to succeed in getting this government to change its manner of governance if we keep trivializing issues.
Would you be surprised today if one of the youth groups in the North disagree with you on this issue of Shege Ka Fasa because there is the need to know how widespread your consultation was among your groups before the announcement of your security outfit?
Why should we be surprised? We are not government and, in fact, before we even make any pronouncement we come together and discuss the issue first. We consulted with all the groups involved, not the entire North. We cannot cover the entire North, but all the groups that are involved with the coalition. When we were launching Shege Ka Fasa in Arewa House, the people representing groups from the North Central, Northeast and the Northwest were there.
Who are the financiers because the launching of that your outfit was done with fanfare and accompanied by a display of smartly dressed young men in uniform and the impression was that so much money must have gone into it?
You see people really need to know the background of why we went to that extent. The circumstances in the North are quite different from what prevails in other regions. The South speaks with one voice. Its religious, traditional and political leaders speak with one voice. You can see how it was not difficult for it to come out with a united front on the issue of Amotekun. You can see how it is not difficult for the South easterners to come up with something that is embraced by their leaders. But in the North there is a huge disconnect between the leaders or the elite and the ordinary people.
With such a disconnection how was it then possible for you to fund Shege Ka Fasa such that you have uniforms and vehicles for your operatives?
That’s what I am saying. It is not about funding. It doesn’t require funds. We talked to the people, the people concerned. Those were just volunteers. They are all volunteers, not more than 10 or 15 and some people volunteered to donate vehicles. What you saw during the launching was just a display to get northern leaders to take up the idea. There were about 20 people or thereabout because I was not at the place. After the press conference I was busy chatting with some media men. We have only about three vehicles.
We‘ll like to have your perspectives on this issue of regional security. If you think it is not a reaction to Amotekun as being touted by some of your elders who see the outfits springing up as invitation to anarchy, why not campaign for community policing just like your governors and other northerners are doing. Do you think the regional approach is better than the community policing system?
It is because government has been foot dragging on this issue of community policing and it has been politicizing the issue of state police. Now, you can see the regional securities are children of necessity. Nobody can say that there is no relation between Amotekun and our initiative. You see Amotekun came up as a necessity in order to protect the Southwest against killings. The reality is that when they are able to flush out the hoodlums they are going to come to the North. So Shege Ka Fasa is literally a direct reaction to Amotekun, but not a negative one. We welcome it. So, it is a question of we are forming our own here in the North so that while they work there we also work here so we can block the entry and exit routes of the hoodlums. What we are saying about state police and community policing is the sincerity of government. You see something is happening here; maybe other people don’t know what is happening in the North. Let me tell you the government is not sincere with this its idea of community policing because it is not prepared and that is why the Southwest governors took that step further. If it was clear that government was sincere they would have keyed in. Everybody wants security, peace and order. If the government had done what it is supposed to do nobody will think of floating regional security outfit. People would have been pursuing other things. There are so many other things to think of. For instance, the North is bedeviled with poverty and so many things, yet we have these daily killings and attacks. If the government will be sincere and the regional leaders will also be sincere to turn a new leaf whatever approach that is better is welcome. I think this new regional approach may force the agenda of state police up to the nation’s political agenda. This will force people to speak up. I do not see any reason we would have a Unified Police Force.
There have been several meanings of Shege Ka Fasa and, therefore, many interpretations. What did you have in mind when you coined the wordShege Ka Fasa? Your governors are saying they did not support your initiative because the code-name is derogatory. Do you think there are other reasons they have refused to support your initiative?
The northern governors are opposed to not only Shege Ka Fasa, but any initiative that has direct links with the people. Any time you come out with an initiative that would benefit the ordinary man in the North the elite feel threatened. That is the position in the North. We se it as trivializing the issue of people being killed on a daily basis just because of the name you say is derogatory. Why don’t you bring an alternative name and we move ahead if really you are concerned about the plight of innocent and poor villagers who are daily bearing the brunt. You have not suggested a different name. We suggested the name Shege Ka Fasa because of two considerations. One, when you are in a conflict situation you don’t say you are water or you are a stick. You should say you are a big tree or you are thunder or you are lightening and so on. So, we chose Shege Ka Fasa as the only way to send the message to these bandits because the practice has been they will come from the bush, attack communities, kill people, rape their women, adopt children and burn down houses. So, we are saying we are now ready; if you fail to come out and attack us you are bastards. Now, these governors are insisting that we should have a different name for bandits. This makes it suspicious. You see there are already sufficient concerns that some leaders have a lot of things to do with the insecurity bedeviling us in the North. For them, to now insist that they should be given a different name is worsening the situation. Shege Ka Fasa is not even sacrosanct. We did not even say that the outfit has come to stay. What we said is that it is an initiative to impress it on our governments and leaders that it is now necessary to do something like this. Let them take it up, change the name if they want, but what we want is security.
Your leaders say such a reaction to Amotekun would cause anarchy because while Amotekun is a leopard, your outfit goes by the name of a lion and they felt since a leopard is a class of a lion it is an invitation to anarchy. Would they be wrong to entertain such fears? And is it a mere coincidence that some of your elders are thinking the same way with your governors?
You see they are the same class of elite. We have different categories of elders here in the North. The Northern Elders Forum is not thinking that way. The Northern Elders Forum is also agreeing with the necessity for people to protect themselves. They said they welcome Amotekun, Shege Ka Fasa and any other initiative so long as they would be regulated by law. Let me tell you the categories of elders in the North. There are elders that are bankrupt and there are elite that are reasonable and liberal. Actually, nobody will tell you that there is no relationship between Amotekun and Shege Ka Fasa. We see Amotekunas a wake-up call because if the Southwest that is not really affected, so to speak, by these attacks as much as the North can go to the extent of having a security outfit that would protect their people we feel we are much more entitled to have our own. The people of the Southwest did not say they set upAmotekun to fight the North. So why should we challenge Amotekun. In fact, we welcome Amotekun. We even foresee a situation where we will have reasonable cooperation between Amotekun and the Southeast initiative if they set up their own.
You spoke of the disconnection between the governors, leaders of the North and the people who are those they govern. The natural question would be how disconnected are they really?
You see there is the bankrupt class of northern elite who call themselves northern leaders. They do not care about what is happening and pretend they do not know what is happening because I do not see why our leaders would wait for the Southwest to take that initiative when they are the ones who are mostly at the receiving end of these attacks. Have you heard that bandits sacked a whole village in the Southwest? But it is happening here and they are keeping quiet waiting for government at the centre to do something they have been unable to do. A few days ago, two villages were sacked in Katsina State and 30 people killed, houses burnt. What have the governors done? What have our so-called leaders done?
How confident are you that the initiative you proposed would have brought or can bring to an end the insecurity in the North?
I am confident because if you involve the people who are at the receiving end, those who are being attacked, the communities that are being attacked it is just a question of encouraging them, giving them people who are more enlightened and put up resistance. That is what we are saying. You encourage the people by telling them you are there to support them. We need information from you and pass it on because right now the people have developed suspicion for security agents. They don’t trust them anymore. The villagers know where the bandits are coming from and where the drugs the bandits take are also coming from and where arms and ammunitions are being distributed; but they can’t talk. They are afraid to talk. But they can talk to us. They will relate to us more than they relate to the security agencies. So, that will help because what we need is to gather information and prepare a community defense system. It is the people in the villages that will do the fighting of their attackers not us. It is getting to a point where people will fight back because there is no point running. That is why the Federal Government has quickly warned that there should be no reprisals. Bandits come from the bushes to kill you and when the same government has not done anything to protect you they are telling you don’t fight back.
For the purpose of realizing your dream of this security outfit that you so much cherish, have you been in touch with your governors and elders? How far have you gone?
We have been in touch with some elders, the reasonable ones. But the governors, without even giving us the opportunity to reach out to them, have daily been criticizing us on the pages of newspapers. Yet they do not have any alternatives. Meanwhile people are still being killed. They do not have any alternatives other than setting up committees that don’t even sit. What we are going to do now is to press for formalization of our initiative by relevant authorities. We are sure there must be windows of opportunities for self-protection. We cannot continue like this in the face of the danger facing the North.