Northern governors/ chiefs’ meeting
Governors of the nineteen Northern states and chairmen of each Northern state’s council of traditional rulers met in Kaduna last week to find lasting solutions to rising insecurity and economic downturn plaguing the region. Stakeholders who spoke at the opening of the meeting blamed falling standards of education and disunity among various groups as the causes of tension and insecurity in some parts of the North. Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State said ý the region which used to be Nigeria’s wealthiest had conspired against itself to be reduced to a laughing stock. He said, “Northern Nigeria today is blighted by a deadly (albeit retreating) insurgency, rural armed banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts, the underlying causes of which are poverty, illiteracy, social exclusivity and severely limited economic opportunities.”
Shettima said there was need for urgent action to reverse the present ugly trend. “We have since begun doing some ground work…to review the criminal justice system of Northern Nigeria with a view to amending the penal code to stipulate penalties for criminal offences prevalent in the North today which were not envisaged by the penal code.”
Also speaking at the event, Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar said the traditional institution was concerned by insecurity in the North coupled with the state of IDPs, cattle rustling, kidnapping and communal violence especially recent happenings in Southern Kaduna. He described as worrisome the usage of places of religious worship to preach hatred and violence as it tended to divide rather than unite the people, adding that the carnage continued to escalate because impunity had been allowed to thrive and people were not being punished for crimes.
On his part, Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i said political, traditional and religious leaders must rise and condemn the incessant killings and destruction of lives and properties in the Northern region. “I believe that one of the major issues that would occupy our time is to discuss the security challenges bedevilling this part of the country, especially clashes between herdsmen and local communities, terrorism, kidnapping, cattle rustling, among others. As we all know, traditional institutions are the closest organ of government to the grass root. Your participation on issues of security therefore cannot be over-emphasized.”
Significantly, the elements of everything the elite have identified are imbedded in the crisis, thus the North is overdue for soul searching, for renewal and for recreation along the lines of its founders whose sense of justice, fairness and equity are presently lacking.
First, we commend the Northern governors for convening the summit with traditional rulers and the intelligentsia to explore solutions to the myriad of problems bedevilling the region. The region’s political leaders have made this commendable effort to assume primary responsibility and set for themselves the challenging task of putting the region’s security challenges on the table as well as reaching out to traditional rulers and groups of elders to help examine just where to begin to deal with the problems. This particular meeting which had a remarkable turnout will be recorded as an achievement for holding at all.
Bringing the traditional rulers on board is equally laudable as custodians of both our cultural and religious values, highly revered in the society, they have sustained the time tested and noble tradition of championing the causes of their people.
We concur with the governors in acknowledging the direct correlation between collapse of education, agriculture and industries with the current restiveness in several parts of the region.
Therefore, the debate bordering on the educational backwardness, pervasive poverty and underdevelopment as well as persistent insecurity of the region should not only form the underlying basis for holding extraordinary meetings but the northern elite must continue to tell themselves the truth and acquire the principled introspection to perpetually preoccupy their thoughts, plans and actions.