In describing the senate president of Nigeria, a fellow compatriot, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described Senate President Bukola
Saraki as a “desperate political warlord”
for his apparent downplaying of the calamity that befell the Offa community in
Kwara State in April when armed robbers allegedly linked to him invaded the
town, killing 20 persons while raiding banks.
Speaking at the 2018 Ijakadi festival in
Offa on Saturday, Mohammed asked the people to resist any attempt to play
politics with human lives. He berated Saraki for a recent comment attributed to
him in which he appeared to boast that he gave N10 million to the community
even when what was stolen was N7 million. Mohammed asked if the individual also
brought back to life those who were killed. Recently when he featured on a
radio station in Ilorin, capital of Kwara, Saraki mentioned that he donated N10
million to Offa when he paid a condolence visit after the robbery.
But Mohammed said
Saraki’s statement was an attempt to “trivialise the calamity”. “In recent
days, there have been attempts by some political desperadoes to trivialise the
calamity that befell this community when those armed robbers attacked banks and
the police station, among others,” he said.
“These desperadoes were quoted as saying that
when they visited this town to commiserate with the people after the attack,
they donated 10 million naira even when what was stolen from the banks vault
was 7 million naira. “Now, let us ask them; how many of those who were killed
in that attack have they also been able to bring back? How can any sane person
equate human life with money? “No amount of money is worth any human life. And
no one should play politics with human life. All people of conscience must
condemn this glib comment by a desperate political warlord.”
The minister
commended the resilience of the Offa people for organising an elaborate
festival, despite the calamity that befell their community. He said Ijakadi
festival itself is a celebration of the Offa virtues of strength and
determination, as well as equity, justice and wisdom. “In line with our promise
during the 2017 Ijakadi Festival, to help train the managers of this festival,
I am happy to announce that come January 2019, a manager of the Ijakadi
Festival will be travelling to Ghana to attend the training which is being
organized by the ministry in collaboration with the British Council, ”the
minister said. “I congratulate the nominee and I am sure he or she will make
the best use of this opportunity.”
On his part, Mufutau
Gbadamosi Esuwoye II, olofa of Offa, said the Ijakadi Festival is aimed at
sustaining the cultural heritage of the people and fostering cohesion in Offa
community and its environs. “Today, the Ijakadi festival has, of course,
attracted national attention, corporate bodies and government at all levels.
Without any iota of doubt, this festival has brought development and benefits
to Offa community,” he said.
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