Professor Yusuf Usman, former chairman of the National Health Insurance Scheme, has urged voters in northern Nigeria to learn from recent political developments in Osun State and recognise the power of their votes.
Usman made the call during an interview with DCL on Wednesday. He criticised vote-buying, the use of security personnel during elections and religious sentiments in political campaigns. He also urged northern voters to consider the long-term impact of their choices at the ballot box instead of accepting small payments from politicians.
Usman criticises security deployment in Osun
The former NHIS chairman said more than 30,000 security personnel were deployed to Osun State during the election. He described the deployment as excessive and questioned the need for such a large number of personnel during an election.
“They sent over 30,000 security agents to Osun State to intimidate people. 30,000. If you sent 30,000 to Zamfara, all the insecurity in Zamfara will be gone,” Usman said.
He questioned why so many security personnel could be deployed for an election while insecurity continues to affect parts of northern Nigeria.
“In spite of that, the people of Osun were not intimidated by the presence of security agents in their state; they were there to help them vote,” he said.
Usman warns against vote-buying
Usman also accused politicians of spending large sums of public money to influence voters during elections. He said some voters accept the money offered to them but later suffer the consequences of their political choices.
“Number two, they spend billions of our money, people’s money, to buy votes. Yes, people receive the money,” he said.
The former NHIS chairman urged voters in northern Nigeria to compare the short-term benefits of vote-buying with the challenges they may face for the next four years.
“And our voters in the north, the lesson you need to learn from Osun is whereas in Osun they gave them N30,000, N40,000, N50,000, here in the north they give you N500 and noodles to grab your lives for the next four years,” he said.
“We have a lot to learn in the north to tell you that we have the power. We vote this government in. We have the power to choose whoever we want to choose,” he said.
Usman rejects Muslim-Muslim campaign
Usman also criticised the use of religion to mobilise voters, particularly calls for support for a Muslim-Muslim political ticket. He described the argument as a political strategy rather than a genuine religious position.
“And now they are bringing in these religious leaders back to you again to tell you to vote Muslim-Muslim, which I said from the outset was nothing but a scam. Nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
According to Usman, religious identity should not replace good governance or efforts to address the problems facing Nigerians. He questioned what the political arrangement had achieved for Muslims in northern Nigeria over the past four years.
“It is just to scoop votes for him. After that, what happened in the last four years? What happened to Muslims in the north?” he asked.
Usman lists challenges in northern Nigeria
The former NHIS chairman said poverty, insecurity, drug abuse, hunger and the number of out-of-school children remain major challenges in northern Nigeria.
“Our poverty has been deepened. Many more children are out of school, over 20,000 are out of school. Insecurity is worse, drugs all over,” he said.
He also argued that military hardware alone cannot solve the country’s security problems. According to him, the government must address the social and economic issues that contribute to insecurity.
“And I tell the military, you can buy a billion rockets, a billion whatever to Kano jets. You cannot solve this problem. You don’t solve this social problem,” Usman said.
Usman calls out religious leaders
Usman called on religious leaders to focus more on social problems and hold political leaders accountable. He criticised religious leaders who, in his view, support political campaigns instead of pushing for solutions to poverty, insecurity and other challenges.
“Instead of our religious leaders focusing on solving the social problems and telling our leadership to solve these social problems now, they are getting pittance and selling the same bandwagon of Muslim-Muslim scam,” he said.
Usman concluded by distancing himself from religious leaders he accused of using Islam for political purposes.
“This is not my Islam, they are not representing me, they are not representing hundreds of millions of Muslims in Nigeria. That’s all I have to say. Islam is better than they are,” he said.
Read also: Nigeria University Offers Free Tuition For Mathematics, Physics Students
