Niger
State Governor, Muázu Babangida Aliyu, who is the Chairman of the NSGF, took a
swipe at the Arewa Consultative Forum in a statement issued on Monday by his
Chief Press Secretary, Israel Ebije, a copy obtained by Daily Independent.
It
was gathered that the Arewa Consultative Forum alleged that the governors of
the northern region rejected their recommendations on how to end Boko Haram
insurgency which has caused years of severe human and structural devastation.
According
to the statement, Aliyu, who described the allegation as very unfortunate,
hinted that the 19 Governors of the region widely consulted following different
experiences, especially on how to come up with security roadmap in the troubled
region to forestall Boko Haram insurgency.
He
said contrary to the ACF claims, the northern governors consulted with
socio-political groups on how to end insurgency and other security malaise
bedeviling the North, adding that they even went ahead to inaugurate a security
committee that would come up with ways of checking the security situation in
the region. He said the committee duration was even extended to accommodate all
the views.
“It is unfortunate that the ACF is casting aspersions on
what the NSGF did to end insurgency despite the fact that we consulted widely,
including the former IGP, Ibrahim Coomassie, and the chairman of ACF is also
aware of our effort.
“Let me therefore intimate that we forwarded our
recommendation to the Federal Government as part of our effort towards ending
insurgency in the North. I was indeed shocked to read in one of the dailies
that ACF claimed we rejected their recommendation when in actual sense we were
the ones begging for contributions,” Aliyu said.
Governor
Aliyu further explained that the committee inaugurated by the NSGF was given 90
days to submit its report after liaising with stakeholders in the 19 northern
states, especially the troubled states as well as dig into the source of the
security challenges and come up with solutions.
The
NSGF chairman also revealed that apart from submitting the report of their
findings for necessary actions, the committee was also directed to talk with
any identified group or groups with the aim of negotiating the way out of the
terrorists menace as well. The committee was also expected to interact with the
Federal Government and deliberate on the best approach to end the insecurity in
the northern region.
The
governor, however, expressed optimism that the ACF has nothing to do with the
publications since it is a socio-cultural forum which is expected to know the
negative implications of such assertions, and questioned the authors’ position
and interest.
Meanwhile,
the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is a political and cultural association of
leaders in Northern Nigeria formed in 2000 which has considerable influence in
the political scene.
It
would be recalled that the National Council of State on Thursday, July 31,
resolved to give President Goodluck Jonathan their full support in order to put an end to Boko Haram
by December 2014. On September 29, 2014, Boko Haram terrorist group storm
Michika local government area of Adamawa state, northern Nigeria, and razed no fewer than 500 houses in Kubi and Watu
villages.
No comments:
Post a Comment