ACF, NEF, 16 Others Carpet Northern Politicians for Region’s Underdevelopment

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Rising from a crucial summit in Kaduna, the political headquarters of the North, no fewer than 18 northern groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), saturday criticised northern politicians for the poor state of the region’s security and economy.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the summit held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, the groups said the region’s political leaders had failed to lift its people from poverty and want, saying they needed to be replaced at the next general elections in 2019.

They said: “No northern politician should expect to be voted for in the next general election unless they demonstrate a willingness to champion a massive assault on poverty and underdevelopment in the North.
“In this regard, most political office holders from the North are hereby served notice that they have failed the test to lead the region towards economic recovery and growth.”

The communique, which was read by the Chief of Staff to the Senate President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, was signed, by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, Dr. Yima Sen, Ambassador Ibrahim Mai Sule, Alhaji Bello Suleiman, Mr. Mataimaki Maiyashi, Zannah Boguma, Nafiu Baba-Ahmed and Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Lame.

Others are Alhaji Yerima Shettima, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF); Pastor Aminchi Habu, United Christian Leaders Eagle Eye Forum (UCLEEF); Balarabe Rufai, Coalition of Northern Groups; Isa Tijjani, Labour Veterans Association; Rev. Bitrus Dangiwa, CAN Northern Chapter; Umar Ahmed, Zaria Jama’atu Nasiril Islam (JNI); Alhaji Buba Adamah, Arewa People Unity Association; Hassan El-Adamu, Arewa Initiative For Good Governance; Abdulazeez Suleiman, Northern Emancipation Network; and Bilkisu Oniyangi, Arewa Initiative for Good Governance.

They, however, called for unity among northerners in order to overcome the challenges facing the region.

“There must be vigilant scrutiny of opportunities for manipulation by outsiders of our present challenges. We must stand up and unite against those who kill villagers in Kogi, in Zamfara, in Benue, in Adamawa, in Borno, in Kaduna and in every village or town. No northern blood is more precious than others, and we can only heal if we adopt common positions to finding solutions to our problems,” the groups declared.

The groups noted that since 2015, northerners had occupied position with the potential to make decisive differences in the economy, security and political fortunes in the region, regretting that the political leaders had failed on all fronts.

According to them: “The hopes that leaders, who have exercised power since 2015 will reverse the abuse and neglect of the region in the previous decades have been betrayed. Weak governance, gross insensitivity and unacceptable levels of incompetence have been compounded by battles of attrition in which northerners have sapped each other’s strength.

“Weak and incoherent responses to provocations from other parts of the country around the imperatives of re-visiting the foundations and structures of the Nigerian state have created the false image of a North without its own positions beyond survival as the parasite of Nigeria.

“The historic gains in Northern political unity secured by Northern votes in the 2015 elections have been wasted by the poor management of conflicts between and among Northern communities.”