“There is need to begin to listen to the cry of the common man, to understand their needs rather than just carrying out projects. Of what use is it to be building airports worth billions of naira when the roads that the common man travels are bad? Instead of having an airport here in Birnin Kebbi that hardly sees one flight in one year, and then you have an airport in Dutse that only lifts pilgrims; then you have an airport in Kaduna, in Bauchi and Gombe and another one in Ekiti, in Makurdi and so on, while the roads which the common man uses for his day to day activities is so bad. You can imagine if you are travelling from Minna to Abuja, how many hours it will take you and from Lokoja to Okene down to Akure due to bad roads? The only solution to this is for us to show piety and repent”
Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111, the Sultan of Sokoto, expanding the space of the poor during activities marking the 10th anniversary of his reign in an unambiguous intervention.
The Sultan of Sokoto
