Igbos Contributed To Making Kano Commercial Nerve Centre, We Can’t Evict Them – Ganduje
The Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Wednesday disclosed that the emergence of the state as a commercial nerve centre was as a result of the contributions of Igbos and people of diverse backgrounds residing in the state.
He noted that people of other ethnic background are needed to maintain Kano’s status as a hub of commerce, disclosing that this was what informed the abolishing of non-indigeneship status in Kano state.
Ganduje stated this in Kano while receiving a delegation from Abia state, which paid him a condolence visit over the death of the late Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule. The delegation included Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, former national chairman of PDP, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, and ex-Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara.
The governor stated that he was upset by the quit notice issued to Igbos in the North by some youth groups, disclosing that “when the ejection order or migration order was given, we in Kano said, No, that nobody was going anywhere!”
According to him, “Here in Kano, we discussed with our youths and we discussed with the people and with those who were being referred to as non-indigenes.
“We have abolished that (indigene and non-indigene) boundary in Kano. Everybody staying in Kano is an indigene of Kano State. You can only say that you are an indigene of Kano with primordial claims elsewhere. But, as far we are concerned now, you and your children are indigenes of the state.
“The reason why we have this belief is historical. Kano, being the commercial nerve centre of the North, being the commercial nerve centre for some West Africa countries, Kano could not have attained that status without other nationalities or without other parts of the country, especially Igbo,” he said.
The governor added that, “If that is our pride, commercial nerve centre, why do we have to break our backbone of commerce? We need to maintain our status. And to maintain our status, we need people from all over the country to be with us.”
He continued, “America is great because people from different cultures, people with different comparative advantages were put together. Everybody came with his talent, initiative and wisdom. That is what made American great!
“You can hardly be great with homogeneity. Heterogeneity is the way to development all over the world.”
While appreciating the delegation for visiting the state, he told the dignitaries that, “Your coming to Kano to console us today tells a lot across the divide. It speaks much about the national integration that we are trying to achieve.”
In his remarks, Governor Ikpeazu declared that the unity of Nigeria was not questionable, stressing that a united Nigeria was better for all Nigerians.
The governor pointed out that he has been to all the states of Nigeria and had seen the rainbow that beautifies the country.