North must stand up against Boko Haram —Aliyu

NIGER State governor, Dr Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, on Monday, said the North must stand up against terrorism, if it must survive economically.
The governor, who is also the chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, stated this at the Sarduana lecture held in Abuja, lamenting that the security situation in the North was fast deteriorating as a result of terrorist activities.
Aliyu, the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation,  said “North must stand against terrorism because investors are already scared of investing in our region.”
The governor’s declarations came on the heels of a fresh call for dialogue between the Federal Government and the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram, by the Joint Special Representative, African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Professor Ibrahim Gambari.
Professor Gambari wondered how Nigeria, which was hitherto peaceful and full of fun loving people, suddenly degenerated into the current state of violence.
In his lecture, entitled “Leadership and Good Governance in Nigeria: Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Ghost of 1914 and the Audacity of Hope for Nation-Building,” Professor Gambari asked the nation’s leaders to pay attention to social justice, adding that while some Nigerians were swimming in stupendous wealth, too many others had fallen below the poverty line.
The Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, at the event, said the political elite in the country needed attitudinal transformation, so as to address the absence of good governance and development.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, in his speech at the event, also asked leaders to emulate the Sardauna of Sokoto, who was able to lead the North in the direction of growth and development.
Tambuwal said the occasion of the lecture  should remind leaders of the qualities of the late Sarduana, Sir Ahmadu Bello, whom he said was an embodiment of good governance.
He said the statesman was able to lead his people in a particular direction and achieved a lot, even with meagre resources.

Tribune