… Say power must return to the North
The
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) yesterday said power must return to the North in
2015, warning governors in the zone to cue behind the power-for-North struggle
or see themselves as anti-North. The elders also threatened to take the
Federal Government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the killings
of civilians in the recent Baga carnage if the security forces deployed to the
area were found culpable of mass killing by a set of lawyers constituted by the
forum to probe the incident.
Led by its Chairman, Malam Maitaima Sule, Dan Mansaini Kano, the
forum during a meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State with Borno Elders and after
its visit to the governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, said though the
northerners threw away the presidency few years ago by some political errors,
adding that elders in the North had decided that it was time to return the
presidency to the region.
“We are not happy that the North is not playing active role in
the present day. That is why we decided to bring together our surviving elders.
We resolved that something must be done, that the North ought to do more than
it currently doing now in the affairs of the country. You know the Arewa
Consultative Forum (ACF) is a socio-cultural group but in the current situation
now in this country, we need more than a socio-cultural group to address our
challenge and that is why we came with the formation of the Northern Elders
Forum (NEF).
Our group believes that any discussion that will not bring back
power to the North in 2015 is not in the interest of the North and its people,”
the forum chairman who was represented by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, former vice
chancellor of Ahmadu Bello Univesrity (ABU) and founding member of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) said. He said the elders had constituted two committees
to examine the political future of the North vis-à-vis power rotation issue as
it affected 2015 and the current insecurity in the North, adding that the
elders were posed to tackle the governors of the 19 northern states over the
issue.
“I was a founding member of PDP and I do know that zoning of the
presidency between the North and South was agreed but (former president)
Obasanjo came and decided to deal with the North. We knew then it will take a
huge effort to address this challenge but if we stand firm and with dedication,
the North can stand again. The Northern Elders Forum has no political party, no
candidate but our party is the people of the North. We know where the lapses
are but we’re going to tackle the governors of the northern states. So join us
in this fight,” he told Governor Shettima.
The forum also berated the Federal Government for the handling
of the insecurity in the North, saying “I sensed lack of honesty and sincerity
in the approach to the Boko Haram insurgency. “We sensed some of the insecurity
going on in the country is particularly targeted at a particular part of the
country perhaps to weaken its political relevance. The Boko Haram crisis has
been on for too long and we have the feeling that some people in power are just
dragging it for material or pecuniary reasons.
Just take a look at the security vote in this year budget and
you will understand the background for our feeling and curiosity. As we went
along, there is doubt to the sincerity of the leaders in managing the crisis.
There is also the feeling of political undertone with this vicious campaign
about 2015,” he stated.
Source: Sun
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