Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State is seeking more understanding from his southern counterparts on the fate of herders following the governors’ recent ban on open grazing in their states. He says, in this interview with Correspondent SOLA SHITTU in Gombe that every Nigerian, in or out of government, must be his brother’s keeper. Excerpts:

The issue of security in the country has been a burning one over the years. How do you assess the situation?

We thank God we have been living peacefully and harmoniously together in Nigeria all this while. However, there are instances where some misunderstandings arose which led to destruction of lives, property and even almost destroyed the foundation of the whole nation. I am happy to say that Gombe State is relatively peaceful despite so many things; very cosmopolitan. People of different backgrounds live, work together and see one another as brothers and sisters. It has been like this from the time of my grandparents to my parents and even to this time. Without peace and without mutual understanding, there will be no development. And when there is no development, it means the nation will collapse.

How can we address the security challenges?

We all have knowledge. We cannot claim not to have knowledge. We cannot claim to have not learned from our leaders, especially from the traditional institutions who are the custodians of knowledge passed down from our forefathers. We have the responsibility to combine modern knowledge with that of our forefathers and fashion out a way so that we don’t overstep our bounds and peacefully co-exist to realise our dreams. However, there are some criminal elements among us who do not want the country to move forward because of their greed and selfish ambition. These selfish and greedy groups who are only after their political, economic or otherwise interests now hide behind religion and ethnicity to cause disaffection among the innocent populace, and when that happens, everybody becomes his brother’s enemy. That is the situation we find ourselves in Nigeria today, and it is very unfortunate.

What is the secret of the relative peace being enjoyed in Gombe?

Gombe is relatively different and relatively peaceful. We are at the centre of the Northeast, sharing boundaries with the remaining five states in the region. If you go back to history, precisely from the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 to the days of the old Northern Region down to Bauchi State, we have always had peaceful relationship overtime among people of different religions. We don’t discriminate.

Let me use myself as an example. The house of my late grandfather which you know very well at Jekadafari, the neighborhood of that house is inhabited by Yoruba people from Ogun and Osun states. I grew up with those people and we live together. They are all Christians and in my own family, we are Muslims. During Sallah we share food with them and they eat; and during Christmas time they also share food with us and we eat too. We saw that peaceful coexistence through history up to our own generation. I see those people as my friends, brothers and I relate with them so. Myself and the leadership of this state and indeed the traditional leaders are committed towards maintaining that peace and tranquility that we have. We will not stop anybody and nobody should stop us from practising our own faith but that togetherness shall be maintained.

Things are not going smoothly for the ordinary man on the streets of Nigeria today. Many are complaining that the pain is getting too much for them to bear. Do you share this view?

-The Nation