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Tag: Northern Elders Forum

  • North’s division deepens as NEC blasts NEF

    …  Says, ‘Those in Northern Elders’ Forum are noise makers’

    The North sink further into division over the 2015 Presidential election Thursday with the Northern Elders Council renewing its opposition to the Northern Elders’ Forum’s position on the rescue of the abducted schoolgirls.

    While the NEF insist that President Jonathan must rescue the girls or forget his presidential ambition, the NEC said those in NEF are just noise makers who are detached from the people of the north.

    The Spokesman of the NEC and former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Amb. Yusuf Mamman, told The Nation on phone that the position taken by the NEC has further alienated it from right thinking northerners.

    He noted that managing a delicate situation of hostage taking require strategies which should be adopted to ensure the safety of the hostages, pointing out that what should be of utmost importance to every Nigerian is how to rescue the girls alive.

    He said, “Those in Northern Elders’ Forum are noise makers. They are just engaged in empty ground standing. To manage a delicate situation of hostages and their release demand tact and grand strategy and above all to ensuring that the lives of the Chibok girls are not compromised.

    “In addition, we commend the council of states, the Federal Government and the President as well as our security services who are working in concert with the government to achieve the time line of putting an end to insurgency, kidnapping and violent crimes before the end of the year.

    “We also commend the entire leadership of the north especially Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Atiku Abubakar and Arch. Mohammed Namadi Sambo for their commitment to the development and peace in northern Nigeria.

    “We also commend people like Gen. TY Danjuma, Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Ishiaku Rabiu and other well meaning Nigerians who are contributing to bring succor to the Chibok girls.”

    On whether the NEC supports the view that President Jonathan should not contest the 2015 elections, he said “How can you decide if somebody should run for the 2015 elections or not?

    “First of all, the man has not said he is going to run. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it. Above all, things must be done constitutionally and responsibly. One cannot just make uncharitable and irresponsible statements.

    “The action of the Northern Elders’ Forum has alienated it from majority of right thinking northerners and northern elders. Our position has been consistent. We have always said that we will continue to engage other parts of Nigeria constructively.”

  • Chibok: Presidency, Igbo group fault Northern elders’ position

    Chibok: Presidency, Igbo group fault Northern elders’ position

    The Presidency on Tuesday flayed the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) for demanding that President Goodluck Jonathan rescue the over 200 Chibok school girls or forfeit his 2015 re-election bid.

    The NEF had given Jonathan a two-month ultimatum within which to rescue the girls.

    The over 200 Chibok school girls were abducted by the Boko Haram sect since April 14 and have since been in the sect captivity.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe, retorted that the President did not require such threat or ultimatum to be alive to his responsibilities.

    “The issue of insurgency, especially those ideologically based on Islamic extremism is a global phenomenon and requires tact, military capability, serious de-radicalisation techniques and community based counter insurgency programmes to ensure success,” Okupe stated.

    The presidential aide said the administration was doing everything possible to ensure that the girls are rescued alive, adding that the various measures adopted by the government would soon yield positive result.

    “We are improving on our operational capabilities and efficiencies by acquiring more advanced weapons and technologies for our military and security agencies.

    “We have drafted more military personnel to the region to strengthen the fighting power of our armed forces.

    “We are taking advantage of the offers from our international military and intelligence allies to assist in identifying key locations.

    “We are working with our neighbours to secure the borders and limit the movements of the Boko Haram fighters, building on the agreements reached at the recent summits in Paris and London.

    “We are deploying more resources to maximize operational efficiency, acquire more advanced and relevant weaponry and boost the general morale of our combatants. This is why the government recently requested for an additional funding of $1billion.

    “And the last piece in the puzzle is targeting the domestic and international funding, and stopping the money flows into the coffers of the terrorists.

    “With all these efforts and the support of our allies, these steps will help fight the threat of the Boko haram and move us closer to bringing the girls back safely,” the statement added.

    Also on Tuesday, a pro Igbo group, the Igbo Redemption Group (IRG) joined issues with the northern elders over the matter, saying their position was unreasonable, unpatriotic, divisive and unfortunate.

    Briefing journalists in Abuja, the leader the IRG, Chief Delly Ajufo, said the northern elders’ position had confirmed the suspicion that the kidnap of the girls was meant to prevent President Jonathan from seeking re-election.

    “Statements like these coming from people who cannot lay claim to any significant contribution to the growth and development of Northern Nigeria is nothing but a mark of desperation which we hopefully assume does not represent the views of right thinking leaders of the North,” Ajufo said.

  • ‘Why power can’t return to north now’

    As the debate over the 2015 presidential election hots up, an emerging northern group, Arewa Peoples Patrotic Front said on Monday that those clamouring for the return of power to the region should have a rethink since it ( the region) no longer exist as a single political unit.

    Addressing a news conference in Kaduna, the National Chairman of the group, Mordecai Sunday Ibrahim, said that the north as a single entitle died long time ago when some leaders came up with the idea of the north and the core north.

    Former Vice- Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, was reported to have said that the north will take back power in 2015, hitting at the President’s men for denying the principle of rotation.

    Mordecai said, “Prof. Ango and his team demanded that power must return to the north in 2015 but we want to know which of the north he is referring to. Not long ago, he was in this country when we were told of two norths – the north and the core north. We have seen and are still seeing the effect of that balkanization of the north.

    “We also want to know whether there is any constitutional provision that prohibits President Goodluck Jonathan from having a second term in office. To our mind, President Jonathan and his Vice, Arc Namadi Sambo are doing their very best to move the nation forward given the circumstances they find themselves while serving as leaders of this country.

    “It will be uncharitable of anyone therefore to say that they are not or have not done anything good to better the lives of Nigerians and so they should vacate office in 2015.”

    He noted that for several decades, the north held on to power without any positive impact on the life of the people, saying “we had power in the north for decades, how did it change our fortunes? What impact did those northerners who ruled the nation for over three decades make in our lives?”

  • North’s elders: Jonathan unfair to our people

    North’s elders: Jonathan unfair to our people

    Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday described as “unfair” President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states.

    The ACF described the action as an indirect declaration of war on the North.

    NEF’s spokesman Prof Ango Abdullahi said the group was disappointed by what he calls the president’s sudden change of tactic on how to resolve the crisis in the North.

     ”It is very sad for us to see that the President has easily changed direction from dialogue and reconciliation to war in his bid to end the cycle of violence in the North,” Abdullahi said

    In a communiqué at the end of its National Executive Council meeting presided over by its chairman, Aliko Mohammed, ACF said the government should not consider the deployment of more troops on the troubled spots as alternative to dialogue.

    The communiqué, signed by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Fati Ibrahim said ACF would monitor the military campaign in the affected states.

    The communiqué reads: “The National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative Forum met today, the 15th of May, 2013 at its national headquarters on Sokoto Road, Kaduna. The meeting which was presided over by Alhaji Aliko Mohammed, the Chairman, was attended by large delegations from all the states of the North. After reviewing and discussing recent developments in the country, the meeting resolved to issue the following communiqué.

    “The ACF takes notice of the proclamation of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by the Federal Government on the grounds that attacks and killings by insurgents and other terrorist groups require more massive military response.

    “The meeting was concerned that the President appears to invest more faith in a military solution even where evidence from our experiences so far bears no such optimism. It is the hope of the ACF, therefore, that the Federal Government does not consider the increased military deployments as a superior option or alternative to the slower and more tedious path of dialogue, negotiation and conciliation.

    “Given the dismal history of peace-making campaigns by the military all over the world, dispatching battalion after battalion to the field in the hope of combating insurgents or terrorists, sounds naïve.

    “In particular, the ACF calls on the military to avoid the temptation of deploying heavy handed tactics or adopting measures that will cause increased civilian casualties and bloodshed under the cover of emergency rule. They are well advised to involve the local populace in their operational plans in order to minimise collateral civilian suffering.

    “Even so, under the circumstances, ACF will raise a team that will observe and monitor the prosecution of the military campaign under the new state of emergency. The team will collect information and evidence from the field and determine if at all times, the military campaign is conforming with the published terms of engagement and other human rights conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday explained that it endorsed the emergency rule because the attacks were capable of breaking-up Nigeria.

    In a statement entitled “State of Emergency is Appropriate,” NLC President Comrade Abdulwahed Omar said: “We agree that the level of bloodletting and the co-ordinated and audacious cross-border attacks if not decisively checked are capable of over-running, over-whelming and balkanising the country.”

    NLC, said Omar, has resolved that as a pan-Nigerian organisation, every action necessary should be taken to preserve its sovereignty against all acts of terrorism and insurgency.

    He urged the government to ensure that the troops and other security personnel adhere to the rules of engagement or be held accountable.

    Omar said: “However, we must warn that the government must clearly understand and spell out the rules of engagement to which the troops and other security personnel must strictly adhere or be called to account.

    “This is purely an internal security challenge, which if not initially mishandled requires more guile than brawn. It makes little sense for our troops to violate, alienate or annihilate the very populations they are out to protect.”

    Omar said the tragic Baga and Bama incidents, which drew global condemnation, were instances to learn from.

    The statement reads: “Although government has not dissolved the democratic structures in the affected states, the declaration of emergency should not be a tool for dealing with perceived political enemies.

    “The emerging internal security challenges make imperative the need to modernise or re-equip our police force.

    “While the Congress insists that government must firmly address the issues of corruption, poverty, illiteracy, disease, unemployment and electoral injustice, it is concerned that the border communities often seem to breed insurgents or offer sanctuary to insurgents.

    “We, however, call on workers and the Nigerian people not to despair or panic. We cannot be overwhelmed if we resolve not to be. Even this trying moment shall pass away.”