THE Arewa Consultative Forum ACF, has expressed concern over the increasing insecurity affecting the Northern Region, saying that necessary and urgent steps must be taken by the federal government to secure lives and property in the region.
This forms part of the resolutions reached by ACF at a meeting presided over by Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Dalhatu, Wazirin Dutse, who is also Chairman, Board of Trustees of the ACF.
The communique issued at the end of its meeting, and read by Professor Muhammad Tukur Baba, its National publicly Sectretary read in part.
“The meeting was called in response to and against the background of the ever increasing crisis of insecurity, sky rocketing cost of living, destitution, unemployment and other calamities plaguing Nigeria in general and Northern Nigeria in particular.
“Members agreed that at the moment, there is nothing troubling Northern Nigeria more than the lack of security of lives and property. The North is today ravaged by elevated forms of banditry, Boko Haram and other insurgencies.
“The menace of drug trafficking and abuse is steadily rising.Not surprisingly, food production is becoming increasingly difficult as farmlands are abandoned and the farmers are getting either killed or fleeing to the IDP camps.
“There does not appear to be an end on sight to these crisis as the mitigation measures taken by the authorities have so far failed to yield the desired results.
The current approaches to fighting the insurgents and bandits are not yielding the desired results. Other measures, even unconventional ones, need to be considered and tried.
“Nigeria is indeed facing a moral crisis for failing to protect its citizens who cannot bear arms but are left at the mercy of well armed, cruel and blood thirsty renegades and barbarians that continue to have free access to deadly arms. This is a matter that requires very urgent thoughts and review.
“Community driven models of defence, such as the Civilian JTF, are already in operation in several parts of the country, including in the Boko-Haram-ravaged Northeast of Nigeria. Similar or modified models of security management should be authorised in other parts of the country.
“ACF laments unprecedented cost of living crisis is driven by severe food shortages and especially the continuously rising prices of electricity and fuel energy. In turn, these problems have compounded the challenges of insecurity and violent crimes. Government must do all within its powers to mitigate the impact of these.
“The meeting identified corruption at all levels to be the key driver of bad governance in Nigeria.It also agreed that bad governance is the root cause of most of the social and economic crisis plaguing the country; including distortion of moral values; nepotism, injustice, misplacement of priorities, etc. It therefore called on the authorities to wage an all-out war against corruption without further delay.
“Constitution Review & Restructuring
After reviewing current agitations and calls for a review of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as well as the restructuring of the administrative structure of Nigeria, the meeting resolved to dispel any impression that the North was shy, afraid of or averse to any such proposals. It is false and misguided.
“The meeting further resolved to put all and sundry on notice that Northern Nigeria is willing to consider ALL proposals on constitutional review that may be put on the table; now or in the future. If and when the occasion arises, the North will surely use whatever is available to it in pursuit of its legitimate interests.
