On Wednesday held a meeting was held in Kaduna over the state of the country, by prominent northerners saying that some attacks on northerners in the South were meant to provoke the region.
The pan-Norther socio-political group, the Arewa Consultative Forum, stated this at a northern submit organized by Professor Ango Abdullahi, which was held at the Arewa House in Kaduna.
The Chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum and an ex-Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ango Abdullahi, in addition said that the region would not vote for anyone along ethnic lines in 2023.
He said that politicians that would be voted for must have the socio-economic development plans for the region irrespective of tribe and religion. He maintained that those who care for the people before, during and after elections would have their votes.
Abdullahi, who is a convener of the northern people’s summit in barriers between the people and their leaders, said the region must, “think out of the box and elect new sets of leaders who will do a lot better than the current ones.”
The former Vice Chancellor also admonished those agitating for secession to have a rethink as he posited that break up was not a solution to any grievances.
He called on the Federal Government to take issues of threat to disintegration of the country seriously.
The Chairman added that Boko Haram and Fulani bandits were not the problems of the North, but threat to Nigeria as a country.
However, he maintained that those who thought they could solve the criminality among elements of Fulani through ethnic cleansing, made a terrible mistake.
He further said using restructuring as a threat of bargaining tool for accepting zoning would destroy the imperatives of restructuring and imperil the country.
Abdullahi said, “Northern voters have supported three southerners, Abiola, Obasanjo and Jonathan to victory in the past, two of them against Northerners. Northern voters are enlightened and conscious of their responsibilities. They have learnt, perhaps at greater cost than most Nigerians, that ethnicity and faith alone do not make good leaders. They will not accept to be further weakened so that they abandon the same rights all Nigerians enjoy.
“Those politicians who want Northerners to vote in a particular manner should soil their boots and convince Northerners how their candidates will improve security, economy and society in the North and the country. Using restructuring as a threat or bargaining tool for accepting zoning will destroy the imperatives of restructuring and imperil the country.
“Politicians and leaders who desire to lead need to understand that Nigerians are watching what they do in their immediate constituencies that will entitle them to ask for our support. We should speak frankly and directly to the rest of Nigeria on this issue.
“Politicians who cannot impose their influence on irredentists that threaten our corporate existence and the lives and livelihoods of our fellow northerners stand on very thin ground in our estimation.
“Politicians who cannot or will not influence public sentiment which demonises our fellow northerners and leaves them open to attack will not weigh much in our consideration as leaders under whom we will feel safe and secure.”
The deputy Chairman of the ACF, Senator Ibrahim Ida made the position of the northern body known, adding that the region must ensure that nobody takes it for granted.
He stated, “We are the fabric holding Nigeria together. We are being provoked by the incessant attacks on northerners in the South. We must therefore ensure at the end that nobody takes us for granted or underestimates us. Let us change the template, portray our interest in the way we want it.”
He also said that the region required internal cohesion through elite consensus, noting that the region was currently at a crossroad as a result of its numerous woes.
“The North is at a crossroads. We really need internal cohesion through elite consensus of what the North stands for, the resources available and what we want to achieve.
“We have enemies within and we need to turn them around and make them see things our own way. There is absence of inclusion in the way we run our affairs,” he said.
On his part, a former Speaker House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’abba, said, “Lots of people are eligible to contest but not suitable to lead. Leadership is not for everybody, It’s not an-all-comers affair. Leaders must possess so many virtues.
“In 1999 when I realised that there was an agenda against the North, I did everything possible to ensure it didn’t succeed but it was among our governors that I met the stiffest opposition.”
