TheCable

Babafemi Ojodu, a former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on political matters, says Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, may be “humouring the south-west for political advantage.”

El-Rufai had portrayed Nigeria as “two countries: a developing south and a backward, less educated and unhealthy north, with world’s highest number of poor people.”

But in an article entitled “El-Rufai is Wrong”, Ojodu said the south-west is living on past glory.

The ex-aide to the president also said the country, as a whole, is underdeveloped.

“It is a fallacy to say that the south is developing. Every part of Nigeria is at best yearning for development. At worst we have a profound reality, an uneven pace of development across states around which Nigeria has been divided since 1967,” he said.

“El Rufai assertions may be true some twenty to thirty years ago, with the advantages the South secured in pre-independence governance. I can write a book to put a lie to that assertion now based on the facts known to me.

“I have traveled around this country North and South. I have seen things for myself. Southerners, let no one deceive you that you are developing. You’re living on past glory.

“El-Rufai knows the truth. He is too clever not to. I think he may be saying what he said to ginger his brother governors to do more for their people or at best humoring our people for political advantage.”

Ojodu said there must be a clamour for good governance “across board.”