Northern Nigeria is presently facing its most trying period since Nigeria’s civil war due to persistent killings across the region, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said.
The ACF Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbe, a former Minister of Agriculture who made the statement in Kaduna said the responsibility of the ACF is now greater than before adding that, “we have not faced this challenge before: Killings day and night.
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“At no time has life been so tough except during the civil war. If we do not save the north now, we will lose the north” the former minster asserted.
In his opening remark at the first ACF meeting since the General Assembly meeting of March 2020, Ogbe dismissed notions of the ACF’s political affiliation, saying the Forum is an organization working for peace and stability in the north, not an ethnic, tribal, religious or a political organization as misunderstood by some.
“We have over 300 tribes in the north; we cannot afford to be an ethnic organization. 78% of Nigerian land mass is in the north,” he said.
A communiqué issued by the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe at the end of the meeting stated that the National Working Committee was inaugurated by Lt General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi (Rtd), the Chairman of the leadership selection committee that supervised the election.
The communiqué noted that the NWC had resolved that the federal and state governments must take urgent steps to arrest the deteriorating security situation all over the north and called on religious, ethnic, traditional and political leaders to be cautious in their utterances and refrain from making wild and inflammatory utterances that will aggravate the situation.
It also urged northern state governors to take advantage of the N75billion loan to farmers under the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing in Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to design employment schemes for the youths.
