Prominent indigenes of Kano State have said they won’t take side with Aliko Dangote in the ongoing faceoff with Federal Government on the Africa’s richest man’s bid to solely refine petroleum products for domestic and export purposes.
In a series of reaction on conventional and social media, northerners and indigenes of Kano State where the billionaire hails from expressed nonchalant attitudes while others criticized Dangote for what they described as age-long failure of the richest blackman to invest in the north and assist in reducing the high poverty rate amongst his people.
A Kano-based opinion leader who simply identified himself as Comrade Musa Hotoro for example said he saw no reason for northeners to be sympathetic to Dangote or support him on the refinery issue.
The billionaire, according to Hotoro had never advanced the cause of the common man nor contributed in reducing economic hardship on the masses, particular in his native Kano, a state with one of the highest number of out of school children begging for alms on the streets.
“Virtually all his major investments are in the southern part of Nigeria with non-northerners occupying juicy workforce in his companies, while workers of northern extraction are employed as either truck drivers or low-paid unskilled labourers.
“Is Dangote saying northerners are not good enough to be employed as graduates or skilled workers into managerial or administrative positions? ” Hotoro queried.
Yusuf Ibrahim, a trader in a popular Kantin Kwari Market in Kano lambasted the billionaire for making life difficult for the masses in conjunction with people in authority by continuous hike in prices of consumer commodities such as sugar and cement which he said had brought untold hardship on the masses, especially the northerners.
“The battle Dangote is fighting, is not our collective fight, I see it as a struggle between the elite who don’t give a damn about us. Why should we invest our energy in defending such a core and unrepentant capitalist,” Ibrahim asked.
Another trader, Garba Isa in his submission pointed to lack of compassion and disregard he said the business mogul had for the poor whom he hardly render assistance inform of philanthropic gestures as others do such as BUA.
He mentioned a recent sugar price battle during Ramadan between Dangote and his rival BUA.
“Dangote wanted to as he habitually does adjust upward the price of sugar which is usually in high demand during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan but knew he no longer had a complete monopoly of the product.
“He therefore, tried to convince BUA to join the heartless price increase of sugar during Ramadan so it would be successful but the latter bluntly refused, sighting the resultant hardship such would cause on his fellow Muslims,” he added.
An Imam of a Jumma’a Mosque in Kano Ustaz Aminu Jibril in his remarks on the issue urged his followers to be wise by not getting involved in a rich man’s battle that has nothing to do with their welfare and wellbeing.
He enjoined Kano people to be onlookers in the raging conflict which he described as a resource-control battle between the elite who are determined to continually impoverish the masses.