By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi.
Senator Salisu Musa Matori has observed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s wrong perception was that late General Sani Abacha symbolized Northern Nigeria, whose symbolism the people in the North are today paying for.
“I can understand because Abacha put him into prison, so to him Abacha symbolizes Northern Nigeria therefore the people in Northern Nigeria must pay for Abacha’s mistake if any, but I don’t think there is any mistake in there”
It is for this reason, Matori noted, the former president Obasanjo halt oil exploration in the Benue Trough and other basins in the country on his ascension to power in 1999 which, he also observed, if allowed to continue, by now power generation in Northern Nigeria would have been a different all together.
Alhaji Salisu Matori, who was fielding questions from journalists in Bauchi weekend, cried out, “All the power cuts and all power problems the North is today facing wouldn’t have been there, and that is why we are today lagging behind”.
“If you remember, there was oil exploration going on in the Benue Trough prior to General Obasanjo administration when he came as a civilian president, but for reasons best known to him, stopped the exploration”
According to Matori, Obasanjo’s priority then was the lying down gas pipeline from Aturugu down to Abara Estate which helped to modernized and industrialized the whole of South West at the expense of the North.
He said that Obasanjo’s priority came to the fore when the Sharada Industrial Estate in Kano with more than 350 industries, as well as in Bompai Industrial Estate and those industries in Kaduna with each employing more than 300 families were all set to go out of production.
“The Sharada industrial estate with more than 350 industries have to go, they have closed down and I don’t think there are 10 now operating, the same thing in Bompai, and come to Kaduna with more than nine textiles each one employing minimum of 300 families, so how many inhabitants of Kaduna lost their means of livelihood because there is no energy to reactivate the then ailing industries”.
Matori said however that the gas which was supposed to come through Ajakuta to Abuja down to Kaduna with a spur in Zaria going to Katsina Rolling mill was diverted by Obasanjo and “shuttered it down and said he don’t want hear anything about it, because he was angry that Abacha put him into prison”.
“Kashi-Mambila project Obasanjo stopped it even though he has investment in Mambila, but I don’t blame him because that was the Nigeria of that period, everybody is looking at his section or people, sometimes his religion which is unfortunate, and sometimes his tribe or geographical location and those are the things that are pulling us back”.
Matori who described himself as more of Nigerian than sectional believer who doesn’t believe in one Nigeria with tribalistic jingoism, expressed optimism that the Buhari administration will strengthened the NNPC to carry the marching order of hydro-carbon search resumption in the six inland basins of the country.
“We have the Sokoto Rima Basin, Dahomey Basin, Benue tough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin, and Bida Basin. These are the basins the President directed for the search of hydro-carbon and I believe the current NNPC Group Managing Director is a dynamic person who the whole industry has confidence in, a straight-forward and upright man who is committed to what he believes in and pursues it to logical conclusion”, Dan-masani concluded.
