The Northern Elders' Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum and 16 other political and socio-cultural groups in the North have chided elected political office holders from the region over alleged non-performance. The groups made their position known in a communiqué issued at the end of a crucial Summit of northern groups held on 24th March at the residence of the late Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Arewa House, Kaduna.
The aggrieved groups accused politicians from the region of being unable to address pressing challenges confronting the region especially insecurity and poverty. The communiqué which was read by the Chief of Staff to the Senate President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, warned office holders that the region would vote them out in 2019 if they fail to heed the warning and perform.
"No northern politician should expect to be voted for in the next general elections unless they demonstrate a willingness to champion a massive assault on poverty and underdevelopment in the North. Most political office holders from the North are hereby served a notice that they have failed the test to lead the region towards economic recovery and growth.”
“The hopes that leaders who have been in power since 2015 will reverse the abuse and neglect of the region in the previous decade have been betrayed. Weak governance, gross insensitivity and unacceptable levels of incompetence have been compounded by battles of attrition in which northerners have sapped one another’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 the 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.
Today, northern communities are erecting barricades against members of other communities, and politicians who have failed to lead and make impacts in the lives of the poor and the vulnerable are daily feeding the people with hate and resentment instead of searching for genuine and lasting solutions.
In a region with enough resources for every community or trade, our people are now fighting for morsels, while leaders think of new ways to turn our misery into electoral capital. The summit noted that in spite of notable successes by the Buhari administration against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, many northern communities still live under its threat.
In many other parts of the North, communities are routinely exposed to attacks from shadowy killers, while suspicion and anger against the suspected killers is pitching northerners against one other.”
According to Punch, the communiqué was signed by Prof. Ango Abdullahi (Chairman ACF Political Committee/Convener, Northern Elders Forum); Dr. Yima Sen (NEF); Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule (ACF); Bello Suleiman (CODE Group); Mataimaki Maiyashi, (Arewa Research Development Project); Zannah Boguma (Borno Elders Forum); Nafiu Baba-Ahmed (Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria), and Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Lame (Northern Union).
Others were Alhaji Yerima Shettima (Arewa Youth Consultative Forum; Pastor Aminchi Habu (United Christian Leaders Eagle Eye Forum); Balarabe Rufai (Coalition of Northern Groups); Isa Tijjani Labour (Veterans Association); Rev. Bitrus Dangiwa (CAN Northern Chapter); Umar Ahmed (Zaria Jama’atu Nasiril Islam); and 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) also signed the communique.
