Exclusive: Why I Don’t Talk About Nigeria Again – Tanko Yakasai
By Ozumi Abdul
Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai has disclosed the reason for his recent aloofness from national issues, especially since the coming on board of the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Alhaji Yakasai made the disclosure during an exclusive interview with POLITICS DIGEST crew in Kano state on Friday.
The nonagenarian who was a staunch supporter of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, during his electioneering campaign attributed his silence on national issues to his old age.
He said his time about commenting on national issues has well elapsed and had since passed that responsibility to the younger Nigerians who are well abreast of the happenings in the today’s evolving world of digital technology.
“Iam close to hundred years now. I have done my own. I can’t die discussing about Nigeria, so i don’t comment on Nigeria issues again because my time has phased out.
“I talked about them when the time was right. Now I don’t read newspapers, I don’t listen to radio, so I don’t know what’s happening. Iam ninety-nine years old now. I can’t continue saying what a 40-year-old, or fifty-year-old should be saying. I leave to them now because it is their time.
“So I don’t know what they are doing now. It’s only if Iam reading newspapers or listening to radio that I can know what is happening. I have done my best, Iam tired and only concentrate on keeping my good health”, he said.
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When asked to comment on the current challenges the country is grappling with, the elder statesman was quick to cut President Tinubu some slack, noting that even though he had distanced himself from national issues, he had the premonition that the president will inherit several challenges.
He added that Nigeria’s challenges are cumulative, and that they cannot be solved overnight, while also enjoining Nigerians to be patient with the current administration of President Tinubu.
Recall that before the 2023 general elections, when the controversial issue about Muslim-Muslin ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), was intensely rife, POLITICS DIGEST had similar exclusive with the nonagenarian, where he declared his unalloyed support for the then APC presidential candidate, now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
During the interview, the Second Republic politician said he was supporting Tinubu because of his antecedents which are evident in the way he transformed Lagos into a big mega city.
“I have been supporting Tinubu and I will continue to support him. My support for him is not temporary but eternal, I will continue to support him with the hope that he emerges as the president of Nigeria, and transform Nigeria the way he did in Lagos or even multiply it.
“This is the reason why I’m supporting him. I have seen what he did in Lagos and no governor comes close”, he said.
Asked to speak on Tinubu’s choice of a fellow Muslim as running mate, he said: “Can a minority-minority win an election in any country? Tinubu is from the minority in the South, he came from the Yoruba muslim minority in the south, muslim Yoruba in the totality of southern Nigeria are minority because the Christians have larger population in the south. The entire South East and South-south are virtually Christians, the only place you have 50 percent of Muslims is the South West where Tinubu is from.
“So Tinubu is from the Muslim minority in the south, while Shettima is from Muslim majority in the North.”
