Barrister Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications spoke candidly about President Muhammadu Buhari recently: “I have come to be convinced, of all the zones that have benefited from the Buhari government, I want to believe that the South West is foremost in benefits and I will tell you why.”
“Each of the six states of the South West except one has substantive ministerial appointee. Not only substantive ministerial appointees; ministers of key ministries. I am Minister of Communications which, over the last one year, has contributed more than 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We have a three-in-one minister in Fashola (SAN), who controls power, works and housing. We have a Minister of Health in Professor Adewole and you know how important that ministry is. And again, we have a Minister of Solid Minerals, which is an economic hotspot for an emerging economy like Nigeria and that one is controlled by Dr. Kayode Fayemi from Ekiti. It is only Ondo that has a minister of state. And Ogun has the Minister of Finance in Mrs Kemi Adeosun. I mean I don’t know of any geo-political zone, which has that bunch of opportunities.”
“So, in terms of equity, the South West has benefited more. It has never happened in the history of this country when you have a Federal Government with this crop of ministers coming from Yoruba land. I know that the people of Yoruba land are very loyal and are in love with the Buhari presidency. They appreciate what the government is doing and, in fact, they rain curses on people who criticise Buhari’s presidency.”
“Yoruba, as the most enterprising people in this country, should work harder for a more united Nigeria because our enterprise requires a bigger market. If we don’t have a big market, there is no how we can survive and there is no way our enterprise can survive. I mean think of the businesses in Lagos, most of them are controlled by Yoruba. Think of the banking sector, most of them are controlled by Yoruba. And think of even the Nigerian Armed Forces now, a Yoruba man is the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and in any case a Yoruba man is also the Vice President of this country. So, in the circumstance of Nigeria, what else are we looking for?”
– Culled from Vanguard