Arewa leader condemns northern youths over comment against Diri

Saidu, who spoke to Vanguard, said it was sad that an Arewa platform he headed at a time as the National President is now being allegedly paid to dish out all kinds of statements, adding that the body should be very mindful of matters it dabbles into.

 “Is Arewa youths a profession or a business? I was president of the body and we did not do this type of thing. I moved a motion for the North to support the creation of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, at the Arewa House in Kaduna when I was the President of Arewa Youth.

“The oil spill has caused much devastation in Bayelsa, so Arewa youth should be mindful of their comment. I am very pained. I will not allow people with no visibility operating under various northern bodies destroy the robust relationship the North has with the South -South.

“I was an aide to the late Harold Dappa Biriye as a youth and I travelled with him across the country. Most times at meetings in the North, he would ask me to talk first. The North has good relationship with Niger Delta. So, no northerner for selfish reason should be allowed to destroy it.

“The statement from my Arewa youth brothers by one Mallam Kabiru Yusuf as president, Arewa Consultative Youth Movement and Convener Association of Northern Youth Groups, is not only provocative but also painting the North as people who can talk recklessly for selfish reasons.”

“Go and see the devastation in Nembe from the spill. I sympathise with the people of the area for the damage to their water and economic life,” he said.