by Tosin Adesina

When you think you’ve seen it all in Nigeria, you, you are brought back to reality with a shocker. The Sokoto government just spent the sum of seven hundred million Naira to procure an office and official residence for the Sultan of Sokoto in Abuja, yes Abuja. Why this makes sense to Governor Aminu Tambuwal is yet to be known.

According to a 2016 report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Sokoto is listed aas the poorest state in Nigeria. “With a poverty rate around 81.2%, Sokoto remains the poorest state in Nigeria. Sokoto was created in 1976, It is mainly populated by the Hausa’s, Sokoto has a population of about 4.5 million Also, Sokoto has experienced low

“With a poverty rate around 81.2%, Sokoto remains the poorest state in Nigeria. Sokoto was created in 1976, It is mainly populated by the Hausa’s, Sokoto has a population of about 4.5 million Also, Sokoto has experienced low socio-economic growth and poverty because of the low literacy level in the State,” the report said.

This report may be a good enough reason for the Sultan to need a home in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. It would be more appropriate for Governor Tambuwal to focus the state’s meagre resources on solving its education deficiency than on building a N700m mansion for the royal father.

The action of the Governor and the Sultan is distasteful and highly insensitive as the Sultan is not a government official, neither those he reside or work in Abuja. He just visits the city anytime he has a function. And if the state thinks the Sultan frequents Abuja enough, what happened to the Sokoto state Governors’ Lodge in Abuja or hotels?

This action if left unchallenged by will certainly breed a bad precedence as several other traditional rulers will see this as the norm and turn the FCT into their secondary abode.

So sad!