Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has implored his counterparts and other leaders in the country to do everything humanly possible to accommodate one another.
A statement by his Special Adviser Media and Publicity, Muhammad Bello, Thursday, said the governor stated this at Government House, Sokoto while receiving hundreds of Sokoto indigenes who returned from Ibadan in Oyo state as a result of the recent crisis there.
He described as unfortunate what happened in Ibadan and what is happening in several parts of the country, saying “as Nigerians we know that every citizen has the right to live peacefully where he chooses to live.
“This is a constitutional right. But we all know that when there is crises people begin to move towards the direction of their ancestral home,” he observed, noting that ordinarily every part of Nigeria is supposed to be home to every Nigerian as stipulated by the constitution.
”Nigeria is our country. We know our challenges. This is a challenging time for Nigeria and all of us must be on the same page. We must work together in harmony to ensure that we find lasting solution to this problem,” he said.
The governor urged those making inflammatory remarks to exaggerate the situation to desist.
”We should all be seen to be providing leadership and accomodation wherever we find ourselves. We need to preach peace and practice it,” the governor added.
Tambuwal also explained that the Sokoto state government doesn’t discriminate against non-indigenes in the state as they’re regarded as Nigerians in the state especially, in terms of payment of school fees, ownership of houses, provision of health facilities and other things.
”Whoever comes to Sokoto and decided to enroll his children in public schools we don’t charge him. Whatever an indigene of Sokoto gets in terms of instructional materials- free books and every learning materials, those citizen of Nigeria living here are also given free of charge just the way we treat the citizens of Sokoto state,” the governor stated.
Assuring the returnees that the state government will give them financial support to start their business in the state, he recalled how he acted promptly when he learnt about the distress calls of the displaced people.
He said he instructed the Commissioner for Careers and Security Matters to get across to some contacts from Oyo state and arrange for the evacuation of the affected people.
