By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Former Minister and ex-presidential candidate Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has alleged that there are lot of efforts from Lagos axis of the country to colonise Kano and the entire Northern Nigeria.
Kwankwaso, who is also a former governor of Kano State said this in a speech he delivered at the convocation ceremony of Skyline University, Kano over the weekend, according to Daily Trust.
The former NNPP presidential candidate and leader of Kwankwasiya movement blamed ‘Lagos’ for the dispute over the emirship of Kano.
He also alleged that there are ongoing plans to divert tax revenue of Kano and Northern Nigeria, in an obvious reference to the controversies over Tax Reform bills submitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
Northern Governors have rejected the tax reform bills.
Kwankwaso also lamented that the Northern part of the country has been bedevilled by challenges of economic crisis, insecurity, poverty, hunger and different kinds of diseases. This, he said, was not good for the country.
Kwankwaso said, “Let me note our situation here in Kano and indeed northern Nigeria. The emir is just being a stooge at this very difficult time, especially in this part of the country (northern Nigeria).
“Today, we can see very clearly that there is a lot of efforts from the Lagos axis to colonize this part of the country. Today, Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose an emir, Lagos has to come to the centre of Kano to put their own emir.”
On the on tax collection, Kwankwaso said, “Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose taxes and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.
“Today, as we have seen, even the telephones that we make or register here in Kano, efforts are there to take all the taxes to Lagos.
“Even our sons and daughters who have brought factories many of them here in Kano and northern Nigeria and even banks, somehow, they are forced to take their headquarters to Lagos because taxes will now have to go to Lagos.”
He also lamented that there are ongoing efforts by some people to make the poor poorer and the rich richer and I believe this is more dangerous.”
However, the former Kano governor tasked lawmakers from the northern part of the country to ensure that the region is not cheated in any way.
“At this moment, I would like to call all our National Assembly members to keep their eyes open so that they don’t do anything that would cheat the people of northern Nigeria, especially here, Kano.
“We are witnesses to what happened during the first term, 1999 to 2000, where our members of the National Assembly were bribed, were treated into collecting huge sums of money to support offshore in this country. That law put a huge blow into our economy not only here in northern Nigeria but all other states.”
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