…‘It’ll take North 20 years to recover’
He predicted that it would take the region 20 years to recover from the damage the carnage had caused.
Also, some northern governors in Bauchi yesterday said the region was backward in all ramifications, owing to the crippling security challenges.
Answering questions from journalists after chairing a session on “Security, politics and economy of the North,” on the second day of the Arewa House Conference with the theme: “The North and strategies for sustainable development,” Abdulsalami said northerners must be united.
He said that with the socio- economic damage done to the North by incessant insecurity, it would require more than 20 years to clean up and revive the region.
The ex-head of state also urged the people to assist government in tackling security challenges in the region, stressing that everybody must act as watchdog of the country and his immediate environment.
He said: “Certainly, if there is unity, we wouldn’t be here at this conference. So, since there is no unity that is why the Arewa House is trying to galvanise it at this conference.
“It will take 20 years to revive the North. A lot of socio-economic damages have been done. If you go round the areas that is when you will appreciate the extent of damage done to the region. We have to work together to revive it. “
All of us should join hands; we cannot leave security to the government alone. Every Nigerian is a security officer, let’s try to join hands and report what we see, so that the government will be able to take action. “We should be government’s watchdogs and also watch our communities.”
Former Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the activities of Boko Haram had eaten into the region like a cancer.
He said: “The next two years will test the resilience of the Nigerian state and the capacity of northerners to bounce back.
“Right now, the Boko Haram insurgency is eating it up like a cancer, and it will require bold initiatives by northerners to find a solution, by influencing both the insurgency and the government.
“Not all Nigerians are comfortable with a united and strong North. Its current position, therefore, is welcome to its detractors and rivals.
They will not lift a finger to heal its wounds. This will have to be done by people in this hall who feel the pain the most.”
Senate Minority Leader and former Benue State Governor, Senator George Akume, who chaired another session on “Values and leadership,” said that it was sad that the North was no longer safe for both its people and visitors.
Akume, therefore, charged the people to imbibe hard work, integrity, honesty, respect and determination to lift the region back to its lost glory.
He said: “If there is no peace, development hardly takes place, no matter the determination of the actors.
“The theme of this conference bears direct relevance to what is happening in the North. The topic for today is value and leadership. I do not intend to go into conceptual definition of values and leadership.
In every society, there are norms and values, these are highly respected, respect for sanctity of human life, and where this is not respected, there is no way you can have peace. This is a very big challenge, particularly in the North.
“I am very sad things are happening the way they are happening now.
“I was in Borno about six months ago when my friend and brother, Governor Kashim Shettima, gave out his sister for marriage. We were about 30 persons that supposed to go to Borno, but only eight of us decided to go.
The others gave different reasons for not making it. “We must imbibe the values of honour, respect, integrity, hard work and determination because they have direct bearing on the development of the North.”
Meanwhile, Shettima has blamed the Federal Government and governors for their failure to provide good governance to the people who gave them their mandates saying this was the reason behind the Boko Haram insurgency.
Speaking at the North- East Alliance for Transformation Summit in Yankari, Bauchi State, Shettima said the acute poverty confronting the zone was responsible for the emergence of the terrorist group that had held the zone and the country hostage.
He also accused the Federal Government of neglecting the zone, lamenting that the central government had abandoned ongoing projects in the zone worth billions of naira.
The governor also noted that security was everybody’s business and should not be left to the state alone.
He urged the Federal Government and other well-meaning Nigerians to urgently partner with the state in its quest to stem the activities of Boko Haram. Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State also observed that the zone was backward owing to the insecurity bedevilling the zone.
He, however, expressed optimism that the summit would be geared towards addressing the security challenges and other problems of the zone.
Yuguda noted that the zone was blessed with human and natural resources that had not been explored. He called on foreign and local investors to invest in the region and to meaningfully engage the youths and women.
Yuguda also charged the governors and other prominent Nigerians to unite in the search for lasting and permanent peace in the region, stressing that recommendations of the summit would be implemented.
The governors of Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa and Yobe lamented the state of education and poverty in the region, which they said was alarming.
Yuguda noted that the summit was not politicallymotivated but to promote development of the zone.
He added that the summit was to fashion out how to proffer solutions to the myriad challenges working against the development of the zone in spite of the abundance of natural resources.
However, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has assured that the FG will ensure that the North-East geopolitical zone of the country feels its presence in terms of developmental programmes and projects.
The President gave the assurance during the summit held at the Yankari Games Reserves, Bauchi.
National Mirror
No comments:
Post a Comment