Sokoto oil is real, but… -Wamakko

Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Magatakrda Wamakko has asserted that the oil reportedly found in his state was real, disclosing that all documents towards exploring it have been completed and forwarded to the Federal Government for necessary action.


Wamakko made the disclosure during a chat with Daily Sun in Sokoto. He, however, said the state was not excited about being an oil producing state because, according to him, oil could make people become lazy.

“I want to tell you gentlemen that there is oil. Real oil. Sure, there is oil and I want to inform you that we have completed the nitty-gritty of the processes and submitted to the Federal Government for approval.

We have done all what is expected of us and we are waiting for Federal Government’s approval,” the governor said. When asked how excited he was over his state joining the league of oil producing states, Wamakko, who expressed apprehension over the status, said emphatically: “We are not eager for that.

“What we are eager to do is to energize our people towards farming because oil makes people lazy. “Before you know it, they will pass one law or the other and start to fight among themselves. But for agriculture, whatever money you make from it, you buy food with it. I want to produce more food. I want to generate more employment and not cheap money from oil.

They would want to take money for doing nothing.” Against this background, the governor said there were many things his administration was doing to generate employment. “One of them is farming. “We advise and encourage people to go into farming because there are lots of opportunities and incentives for them.”

On job creation, the governor said he was , “working with partners to provide jobs because we believe our youths must be gainfully employed,” stating that “for youth employment, we are doing three things at oncße.” He named the three things as “giving employment, fighting crime, drug abuse and rural-urban drift.”