 ననినిచ్ట్త్క్వా aspects that are owned impact in northern Nigeria have some of the biggest natural resources on the ground and the trading of those natural resources are going on while people are being killed in those communities. Do you know now let me bring you up to speed real quick. If you realize some of the most fertile lands in northern Nigeria are the ones that are being attacked, most of our fresh, beautiful vegetables and fruits come from Plato's state, do you know what is underneath those beautiful fertile lands? It is also solid minerals, guza for some of you who know, you know. People are killed daily while miners are mining those lands. How can you raise down an entire village? Bring it down to ashes, evacuate everybody there and go behind their backs to go and be mining their gold. How wicked can you be? Do you know that it is also affecting not only our economy, but also the food supply for the common man who cannot afford to eat? I am a farmer. Yes, I am an agro-entrepreneur. I deal with grains. And the rate at which food is going to be scarce in 2024, you are not ready for it. Things that we buy for as low as 20,000 when they are in surplus, we bought this year for 80,000 nera when it was in surplus. You are not ready for it. For us who do food storage business, we know exactly what you are saying, ask anybody who is into farming. We need all of this madness, this crisis of insecurity is a major business of natural resource buying and selling, illegal. Zanfarah has gold and daily gold is traded while people are killed and evacuated from their villages. They would rather pursue you because of insecurity and go and dig your land to take out gold and take out tin and take out other minerals. Yes, that's what's happening in Northern Nigeria. They attack people using insecurity as a blanket and a facade, chase people out of their communities and go behind their backs to steal their natural resources. Those are the kinds of leaders we have in Northern Nigeria. You are wicked people and you have blood on your hands and you are going to be judged for it. I mean, that was a five minutes long video, right? So you can go on, I'm sure, I mean the video is trending online. Over 115 people have been killed following the attack on several communities in Boko and Burkinlady local government areas of Plato State by gunmen. As usual, this incident has been followed by public outcries and promises by the authorities to arrest the situation and prevent its occurrence specifically in the Northern region of Nigeria. This always happens over and over again, so much that the killings in the North is soon becoming a threat to food supply across the country. So tonight we're asking what are your thoughts on this alleged, you know, looming full scarcity and of course the natural resource theft, you know, especially by this young farmer that lives up North. Now please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join this conversation, send us an SMS or WhatsApp to the right one, 80384663. You can also tweet at us at WeishuAfricaOne. All right, so, I mean, let me just ask your initial thoughts when you saw those videos, right? Because it was on Christmas Day that we had the very, very sad report that people, there was fresh attack in Plato. And I think coming days after again another attack happened, right? When you saw this video, right, what was your initial, what came to your mind initial thoughts, yeah? So when I saw her clip which I saw obviously a couple of days right after the Christmas Eve incident happened that we woke up on Christmas Day to hear about, it was shocked at the fact that, because you know there are different perspectives to the story and because you're not the person on ground, you are open to digesting what the media tells you because you are not the person on ground. So this lady has been on ground, apparently she has maybe inside information on what is going on, about what we have, the information we have over here in Lagos. So I think for me my first reaction would be shock. I mean I know there are a couple of evil or wicked acts going on across the country but I just didn't think of it like this, you know. And yes I've been aware that there will be a looming food scarcity. I mean UNICEF has put out a warning to Nigerians that we should be aware that between 2023 and going on into 2024 there would be massive food scarcity. As a matter of fact they put a statistics of over 25 million people would be hugely hit by this food scarcity. But then for me the shock is the fact that we are here thinking okay maybe this is fueled by terrorists but at the back end of it is the possibility or the allegation that somebody is taking advantage of this suffering or is putting people in distress. There's always profiting in chaos. Yes. There is a cartel that understands that this people, the only way you can probably steal from them is you have to first of all cause workers, you know, then of course displace people in the bit to say you are trying to whatever you then mind there which is I mean I don't really have so much wisdom. Let me call it like that because as long as I what you know you are no problem. I know for sure the fact that we have not solved the problem of insecurity especially in this part of the country we mean somebody is heavily profiting from it or some people are heavily profiting from it. It is the same thing with Niger Delta. Do you understand? You cause a lot of chaos and you are stealing the oils right? Right now the death toll has actually increased from 115 as of the reports this morning. The death toll we are looking at over 200 people that have been discovered, killed and then hundreds of homes burnt and displaced. Displaced you know and I was reading up and I found that this just drama or this constant attacks in communities in Pula 2 state has been going on for as far back as the 90s, 1990s or there about moving into so over and over again there is like periodic attacks and right now it seems as though they have graduated from Pula 2 state to most of the middle Belton state. There is Nassarawa state. I think a part of Nassarawa state was attacked. There is Zampara. Yes. There is Borno. And then Niger 2. Niger state was attacked 29. Wari area in Abuja was attacked as well. So the question is and also so I remember when in Abuja was having a discussion with someone who is pretty much higher up there and he says that literally every rock you see or every mountain you see around this territory is salt. Is money. Because there are minerals there. And I'm thinking that is a little too selfish for you to want to be so indifferent about people's lives just because of wealth. Ah you'll be shocked. You'll be shocked. Let me hear your initial thoughts. Not my fan. When you saw that video from the young girl, what came to your mind? Well, I mean, this is something that I'm praying that quickly enough that a solution is going to come. Because where my thoughts went to are the children. Children are the most vulnerable people in society. And UNICEF as well has said that over 6 million children are at risk. 6 million children who are under 5 are at risk of mortality during this food scarcity situation. So that for me was the determining factor as to what needs to be done as quickly as possible. Because if we're talking about, I mean, it's not like adults are not important, but children are vulnerable. So if we have 6 million children who are at risk of dying out as a result of food scarcity, then I don't know. The government, the authorities, something needs to give in this situation. For me, that was where my heart went to. If adults are at risk, what is going to happen to children? How are they going to survive? And how are they going to be able to go through this process of having no food? Things are difficult as it is already. Education is out of the way. Because where there is security, who is going to school? Who is going to school? Their lives are threatening because there's nothing to eat as well. That in itself, if it does not prick the conscience of the government or the people in authority, then I don't know what will. At least, I think for me that was where, that's what my head is trying to wrap around as to what can happen to save children in this crisis. Okay, so I just wanted to list a few. Based on these allegations, it's important for us to understand the kind of natural resources that you have in this region. So for instance in Plato, these are some natural resources that I had my intern check on for me. Barite, bogzite, clay, cola, kaolin, zinc, marble, molyb, molyb denite, pyrochlori, salt, tantalite tin and wolfram. Now there's another resource that you, I mean some resources that you find around Zamfara area would be iron or gold, chromate, granite, clay, limestone. So if you check some of the uses of this natural resources, right, there are things that you use to make paint, rubber, fillers. Yes, I mean they are good for brilliance, clarity, chemical, some chemical industries use them. They are abrasive cement, different seal and seal for petroleum. Of course you know what clay is used for, cola you know what is used for, kaolin is for like taking out, absorbing toxins from the skin, of course everybody knows what the value of gold right now is in the market, right. And you know, I looked at the allegations and I say that see there's some level of truth in what she's saying, right. Because go and check, we haven't gotten a proper structure. I mean people that have mining license will tell you in this country that there's a lot of racketeering that goes on in the mining ministry, right. The industry in itself where I will apply for a license to mine, you would apply for a license to mine and somehow, somehow both of us will get the same license. You know, there's a lot of underground overhaul and recently, recently I remember reading it somewhere. It's just that I cannot, I couldn't find that article anymore where they said that the federal government was withdrawing a lot of mining licenses, right, to some of these, what's it called, organizations. I've said this several times and I'll say it over and over again. For us to be able to move forward in this country, we cannot have a centralized system that caters to the resources of each state. We have to find a way to decentralize control. That every state has power to be able to, because now for you to be able to mine anything, you need to first of all go and get an approval and a license and a budget, you don't need to do all of that. Because if we decide to say that we want to solve this problem, right, if it is true, which I strongly agree with this young girl that there's a lot of theft going on, because if not, why? It is so senseless, it is a baseless killing. Why do you need to kill people? Do you understand? There must be something that you want to take from those people. It's just like even when I was growing up in Kaduna and I remember that, I've said this story several times, we were, our house was a closed, just three houses. Our house, there was a Kaduna state indigenous house and the northerners they live in like a block of their own kind of style of house. Our house wasn't burnt, but they insisted on burning that Kaduna state indigenous house. Why? He's a farmer. He had massive farmland. Do you understand? So the target was not so much about him. The target was to find a way to displace him or kill him, so that they can take over his farmland. Because he had an expanse. Yes, he was a farmer, so he had expanse of land. So that is why I would tend to want to agree with what this young lady is saying. And if the government is actually serious about fighting this crime, first of all, give control to the state. Let them be able to manage their territory. Do you understand? Let them control all their resources so that whatever resource comes, they'll be able to fund their security personnel, to be able to cater to the security and secure the parameters of each of their states. But you're not doing that. So there's a lot of things going on. I've said it that in all of these things that is happening, killings and all of this, some people are profiting. I remember there was a story, I think about just before Jonathan left power. There was a story that came out that one of the JTF person bought a house in Banana as a den for 400 million. Where did you get the money from? And you're supposed to be part of the people that are supposed to be securing and fighting against insecurity and Boko Haram and all of those people. So people are steadily profiting from this and they don't care. What is even worrisome now is that, okay, yes, we've allowed you to profit from this. What is happening to food? Farmers cannot go to their farm. I remember several times they were complaining of how they were being attacked, they were being killed, they were being kidnapped. Then there were some that were saying that if you want to go and harvest your crop, you have to pay. Which is very sad. And the fact that yet there has been predictions not just for Nigeria but globally that the world is looking at food insecurity. But I think for Nigeria we have the perfect climate. We have no excuse. And we have food as our beck and call. The only thing that is a challenge to food production is insecurity and terrorism. And the fact that people would do that. Now about what you said this centralizing power from. I like what Minister of Interior is doing. The fact that he's like we don't have to bring all the attention to Abuja to come and change marriage certificate and change of name. It's not needed. I like that, I applaud him. However I think just like you said we should do the same to things like maybe state policing or letting the governor manage the resources of the territory. However most people would argue that a major disadvantage of that could be looking at autonomy and the fact that yes you are no longer dealing with the federal government directly now. But then the governors can also twist and turn it. They can't twist and turn it. Everything should be built on structure. Everything should be built on structure. And let me tell you something. All these excessive states, if they say the state today that the state does not have natural resources. Join the other state because even this is our thing that we did. I really don't buy the idea of us having multiple states. Do you understand? We have 36 states and the federal capital territory. How productive are some of these states? They don't have anything. So everybody goes back to Abuja. You can say they don't have anything. Some of these states don't have. They don't. Do you understand? So I think Nigeria is such a blessed nation. Let's take a break. We will open the phone line. I want to know the one that you think. I'm saying there has been some arguments that if we told that line, some people don't have natural resources. Do you understand? And I'm saying if you don't have, join the people that have. Must you be governor? Alright, thanks for staying with us. We just tune things and ladies night out. Oh God, this is 2024. It's the 4th of January. It's governor. We're still adjusting. Alright, so we're discussing this lumine food scarcity. It's really really worrisome, right? And of course the allegations around natural resource theft that we have in the country. Now please, let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join this conversation. Send us an SMS or what have to do with it. Our phone line is now open as well. Please, the number to call is 070-25077-49. That's the number to call. Alright, Norma, let me hear your thoughts. Because I think you wanted to come in when I was talking about states. Say that. And it still boils down to what we have continued to talk about. The level of governance. There's a path where we have elected people to come in and begin to chart the cause for the nation. And then the aspect of governance. Now who do you hold responsible for that? These are allegations. Allegations that natural resources are leaving our country without consent. Or some people have put together some agreement and are catching away with our natural resources. And these things are not being beneficial. Now who are you going to, who is going to be accountable for that? Where is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Or those that are handling our natural resources? Who is accounting for? And I think that's part of our major problem, that structural aspect. The fact that also the level of greed that has become the norm for Nigerians in general, it is very alarming. So everybody is thinking about themselves. There's so much lack of humanity in our thought process. Funny enough, I was having a conversation the other day with someone. And they were talking about an opportunity that came just in the football aspect of things. And these countries were busy negotiating different packages for their country. Or you are coming to come and invest this and that in our country. So so amount of years. And those who were supposedly representing Nigeria just wanted cash. Give us cash and we're good. So you're talking about people who have no interest of Nigerian citizens at heart. And we keep on bringing this picture, turning them in and out and saying that these are our leaders. There's something really has to give in the place of governance. Because if we don't hold our leaders accountable, then nobody accounts for what is going on. This is going on. Who do we ask? What is happening? Why is crisis still going on? Why is security not being tackled? But like you rightly said, because a number of people are benefiting from the chaos that is going on in Nigeria. Then it is not our business. So I think in the area of governance, this is an aspect that Nigerians really need to begin to ask questions. The right kind of questions begin to direct it to the right people, the leaders and the authorities in different aspects. Because if we do not wake up to the realities of what is going on. Like the lady said, I think I watched the full version of it. She said, don't think that because it's happening in the north, for example, it's not going to come down to the east or to the south. All of the areas in Nigeria are being affected by the situation and we're all going to be affected one way or the other. No, but it's already happening because as it is now, right? First of all, there's a lot of hike in food prices. Because again, the produce has reduced drastically. Yes, because the farms have been affected. Absolutely, farms have been affected. So the produce has reduced drastically. So it's already happening. This is where I feel like governance should have a bit of humanity in it. Because this conversation is not what is happening in Japan, that is a natural disaster that has gotten us to where we are. This is completely human. It is completely human because if we were dealing with heavy weather conditions, like what they are having abroad with blazing, blazers with cold snow, or is it the fire that always happens in Australia that you just have fire burning all the farm lands or whatever, wildfires and all of that. We don't have the earthquakes, we don't have any of those things. So if at all anybody should be talking about food scarcity or food insecurity, it is not a country like Nigeria because for every land in this country, if you put in something, I remember behind my father's compound, we used to plant corn. We will plant and it will grow. Like literally there's no place in Nigeria that you will not put in a seed that it will not bring for something. That is how blessed and fertile our lands are. So if we are having issues and we are saying there is a looming food scarcity, then it is not what the globe. Yes, there is a Russia-Ukraine war going on that is affecting food scarcity in other places. But that is not the case in our own. It might affect seedlings, yes. Because I know others will argue that some of these seedlings will bring them out of the country. But I am saying that even within the shores of this country, if we will just deal with the issues of insecurity, it would go very far in how we can protect ourselves. And it is just having humanity at the back of governance, where you think like okay, because Sansi is my citizen, she cannot go to bed hungry. She needs to feed, right? So you think like that and you don't watch any Nigerian go to bed hungry. If you think like that, we will not have the problems we are having. You will solve this problem of insecurity because again, it is not you and I that are going to go and steal gold to sell. It is not you and I that are stealing natural resources to sell. These people are the people that they have the yam, they have the knife, they control it. It is not small people that are in these cartels. These are powerful people, right? These are people that control resources. Which brings me to ask the question, yes, you said something about governance and them being in touch with the people. Now the fact that this thing crisis happens over and over again, it makes me raise the question, is Mr. President really in touch with the realities of what is going on? And I will tell you why I am asking this question. If you listen to his January 1st speech at 7am, amongst everything he mentioned, yes, he acknowledged inflation, 28% inflation and everything he said and there was a lot of we are hoping, we are renewing hope and we are hopeful, yes, I get that. But the easiest thing for him to have done during that speech was to point out that there are two people, I am aware of what happened. They never mentioned it. It was as though it never happened. What happened? This is your very first live broadcast. Yes, Vice President Shatima may have put out word and gone there to visit but you are the president of the country. It matters a lot that people feel that you can see them, that you can hear them and that did not happen. So which raises the question, is information being filtered to them because somewhere inside of me I find it difficult to believe that you can actually sit down and watch people suffer and not be bothered to do anything about it. So the question I am asking is the information that is passed down to Mr. President by his aides or however the hierarchy or the functions goes on in the Acero, do they filter this conversation around information you see if you had brought this argument years ago I would buy that argument but the truth is come on we are in the age where from your phone literally there is no where the president wants to go to if it is television people are talking about it I mean a lot of media houses talked about play to state so it was very very insensitive and this is where I think it was even Uti that was saying it that whatever it is that are your media handlers this is not the time for you to pretend like things are not happening people died do you understand people died people are still dying so this is not the time for us to pretend and if now we want to add hunger to this tell me what will happen it means the insecurity will triple so I am saying that we are already where we are you are now in positions of authority let us do what is right even by the face of God let us forget that Nigerians you don't even want to do anything right by them do you understand the person that brought you to this world do what is right by them or by him because let me literally write it does not make any sense that if people are talking about food Nigeria should be talking we have no business with scarcity if we had a proper government structure we have no business with scarcity imagine if it were Nigerian leaders that was at the time of Joseph I think everybody would have died in Egypt I am being honest because it took somebody that had the heart for people that had honesty and integrity accountability do you understand to understand that I can see farming coming so let us plan now and so that we can enjoy later these things there are different predictions that have happened over the years it rained today in January weather conditions everything has been saying that there is a lot of things going on so if you are in a position of leadership your governance style should be in a form that yes you truly have the heart of the people and you truly want to preserve your people because I don't understand why we keep on having multiple killings and it seems like nobody is doing anything about it I have a question now that I just remembered this I remember Ruben Abati saying something I was listening to his show one time and he said that it is as though there is and he made reference from Goodluck's period to Buhari's period as at the time he said it is as though there is a demon there is a demon in the government house in Astor Rock such that you have your agenda that you want to do but then eventually when you get in there you don't really know what happened and at the end of the day you see that your period of leadership or your reign is over and you can't exactly say that what you had in mind to do that you did it let me ask Mama why she believes that because sincerely you look at there is a truck record of president in Nigeria going through even our passenger everybody is calling Godfather and he is looking as though he is the best of them if you go through their records there is they just never meet for people's expectation it's just that you did like this we are hoping the next person does better and the next person is worse and the next one is worse and the next one is worse let me hear situation you can enter a strong man's house without being fortified so in as much as that can come up in the picture I don't think that that is the major issue before you got in you know what you are preparing for at least to an extent you may not have 100 percent perspective to it but you have an idea that you are going to experience some level of resistance and you have to be ready if you know you don't have what it takes to fight that battle why not step down why not step down but our people because of and I still come back to this point about humanity and greed we have people who have become so greedy and so self centered that all that they are thinking of is I just want to get in and then when you get in there you have no plan you have no structure you have nothing that you want to offer but you gave a facade that you had everything that you wanted there is going to be resistance most definitely but if you have a plan and you have the right kind of people that you need to be able to execute to an extent you may not 100 percent finish what you have but you would have started that journey and Nigerians need the kind of leaders and governance that can push them in the right direction in the direction that it is possible why not tell you to complete the task because it will take years for where we are today it took years before we got there the level of greed and insensitivity just continue to increase so it is going to take a process to bring us right back to where we can think that we can begin to see some level of humanity in our decision making as it affects Nigerian citizens we were talking about it and we said that unfortunately some of us may not even be alive to see the change that we have been looking for but it is going to take deliberate and intentional determine people who have humanity at the heart at the core of what their intention for Nigeria is to start that process that's what we are looking for and for Nigerians to begin to see that it is possible when they see a glimpse of it I believe that Nigerians still have the capacity they just need the right direction when you show them they have capacity for bad but they also have capacity for good and if the right kind of people show them the direction gradually gradually and there is some level of continuity with that if it is possible then we can see the possibility of the kind of Nigeria we will not have up to 6 million children who are under the threat of scarcity food scarcity and mortality that's my conviction absolutely it's just so sad I think the key word is humanity where is your humanity and sensitivity like normal rightly mentioned you know it's I don't know I don't know but if you had anything to say what would that be if I had anything to say to Mr President or about the situation at hand I think I would tell Norma's line that at the end of the day we need to realise that these are people that we are governing and you cannot be an effective leader if you don't learn to listen to people and for you to listen to people you have to be able to connect with your humanity to put them put yourself in their shoes even though you haven't worn their shoes since you were 14 but somehow you have to find a way to be honest with yourself find out what exactly is the needs of these people that I'm leading not really leading and then try to make I don't know does it even matter that I'm saying it because at the end of the day it's like year after year what is it called tenure after tenure you keep getting the same thing and it's just I don't know I'm just sort of at a place where are you indifferent no I'm not I mean there are a couple things in Nigeria that I'm indifferent about but right now considering these platu killings I'm indifferent about that because that would be very insensitive of me these are human lives that have been lost these are people who have been displaced but what I find really interesting is the fact that remember there was a time when there was almost like a kind of attack a terrorist attack pattern that was going to come to the middle west but instantly it was tackled and we almost don't get that anymore and now you look at these communities that are constantly under attack usually rural areas places where almost like voiceless people exactly these are people who seem as though maybe they don't have enough influential people there or maybe they are voiceless so that's why I say that the allegations about secretly mining these people's mineral resources might just be to let us put chaos there and let's find but you have faith in the government because when they come out to say that they are fighting the insecurity and all of that, you have faith in them to believe that yes they have been honest with that word it could be that for instance the chief of army is the mutinous general has come out to say that you know we are going to send more military people to patrol this distressed societies and help bring a certain level of relief and sincerely true to his word he did send the military personnel and the villagers said yes these military personnel came around they were patrolling but still after they did their whole watchman in the daytime at night the same thing happened so at this point it's hard as a Nigerian to trust that the government has a hand of this which is why that conversation about handling guns and handling weapons giving individuals license to handle weapons that is why that conversation it has already come up on that note thank you for watching thank you namayafanga before you go please follow us across all our social media handles at weishu africa you can interact with us further drop a comment and most importantly follow all our engagement on social media I would like to bring back this topic I would like to also hear from someone that is truly in the north let's see how true these allegations are and if you missed today's quote here it is again from an anonymous source it says the rate at which food will be scarce in 2024 we are not ready for it that is really scary and alarming we'll see you guys tomorrow at 8pm as we bring another great conversation to your screen