The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Northern

  • Ihejirika: Igbo youths, others warn northern elders

    A coalition of Northern and Igbo youths has cautioned the Northern Elders Forum on its call for Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika’s trial at the International Crime Court (ICC).

    It said the elders should not destroy the young generation with hatred, division and mistrust.

    Addressing a joint news briefing in Abuja, the presidents of the Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Organisation, Comrade Uzoh Ifeanyi and Northern Youth Leaders Assembly, Comrade Tijani Kabiru Mohammed, said the elders were seeking media attention and looking for the spoils of the political economy of their self-made crisis.

    They said the feeling among Igbo youths was that the North could still not imagine that an Igbo man could head the Army, while northern youths were given the impression that an Igbo man commanded a troop to kill northerners.

    “We the northern and Igbo youths have built bridges of fraternity and friendship and do not want anybody to lead us back to the hatred and bitterness of the civil war era.

    “As Nigerians, we are united in search of a solution to our national challenges. It could be suffocating when wisdom vanishes from the heads of elders.

    “We, the youth, have a duty to tell them that they are wrong and should stop. The country is yet to recover from the threats issued by some of them in 2011. We can hardly afford another crisis,” the youths said.

    They condemned attempt by the elders forum to create tension, disunity, instability and hatred, urging them to stop inciting Nigerians against one another.

  • Niger Delta group urges northern youths to embrace peace

    A youth advocacy group, Niger Delta Organisation for Sustainable Development, has urged youths in some parts of the North to drop their arms and join hands to work towards the development of the country.

    The group’s National President, Dogubo Mologe, in a New Year message, urged Northern youths to emulate the Niger Delta youths who after some period of agitation, embraced peace and are now contributing positively to national development.

    Mologe also urged youths across the Niger Delta to guard against being used by selfish politicians to cause a breach of the peace in the New Year.

    Mologe said, as future leaders, youths should not be involved in counter-productive acts, but be more reasonable and responsible in all their actions.

    He urged them to stand solidly behind President Goodluck Jonathan who, according to him, holds the youths in high esteem. He said this has been demonstrated by his appointment of several youths into sensitive positions in his administration.

    Mologe urged them to give peace a chance so that all parts of the country can be developed for the enhancement of the standard of living of all Nigerians.

     

     

  • Northern governors seek end to attacks

    The Northern States Governors’ Forum has urged security agencies to “take urgent steps to halt the senseless killing of defenceless citizens”.

    Speaking through its Chairman, Gov Babangida Aliyu, the forum, in a statement signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Danladi Ndayebo, also called for an end to “attacks on places of worship and educational facilities”.

    The forum was reacting to the murder on Saturday, of 38 students of the College of Agriculture, Gujba, Yobe State, and the killing of 15 persons in Zangang, a community in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    “The forum is particularly alarmed that the shooting to death of 38 students of the College of Education; Gujba, Yobe State followed the same pattern as the killing of 22 students and a teacher at Government Secondary School, Mamudo in the same state last July,” it said.

    While commiserating with the families of the victims, the forum prayed God to grant eternal rest to the deceased, as well as quick recovery to those who sustained injuries.

    It called on security agencies to intensify efforts at protecting the lives and property of citizens, and also ensure that those behind the violence in the region, were apprehended and brought to justice.

     

  • Northern council chairmen seek autonomy

    Northern council chairmen seek autonomy

    THE chairmen of 419 local government councils in the North have called on the Federal Government to grant autonomy to all local government councils in the country to ensure transparent and efficient administration.

    The group, under the aegis of Northern Local Government Chairmen’s Forum (NLGCF), also warned against politicisation of the on-going face-off between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and government.

    The national chairman of NLGCF and Chairman Dekina Local Government Council in Kogi State, Mr. Ali Mohammed, told reporters in Abuja at the weekend that the internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a threat to the national interest.

    He said: “The current ASUU strike should not be swindled with political strokes; rather ASUU and the Federal Government should, in the interest of our educational system and Nigerian students, resolve this matter amicably and on time too.”

    The NLGCF also called on the PDP’s National Working Committee to broker peace and foster unity within the party to safeguard the unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.

    Mohammed said: “A political party is a big family bound to encounter crisis. Thus a mechanism should be put in place to resolve the matter amicably.”

     

  • Northern govs mourn Awolowo

    The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has described the death of the publisher of Tribune Newspapers, Mr. Oluwole Awolowo, as a great loss to journalism and humanity.

    Chairman of the Forum and governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Aliyu, said the contributions of the late Awolowo as a publisher will remain evergreen.

    A statement signed by Aliyu’s chief Press secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, said: ”Thanks to the vision, commitment and hard work of the late publisher and the hordes of journalists and others who have worked or are still working at The Tribune, the paper has become a leading light in our country’s media industry.”

    The governors expressed hope that the generation of journalists who benefited from the immense knowledge and managerial acumen of the late publisher will keep the flag flying by protecting his legacies.

  • Northern plea

    Northern plea

    • We have to know who Boko Haram members are to grant them amnesty

    How can the country finally resolve the protracted irritations of the Jama’atul-Ahlil Sunnah Lil Da’awati Wal Jihad, commonly called Boko Haram? Could the atrocious actions of the sect be curbed through blanket amnesty for its unrepentant members?

    These questions become pertinent in view of the hubbub generated by calls from the north that amnesty should be granted to members of the sect. At different times, the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) through its committee on Reconciliation, Healing and Security, and Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI)/leader of Nigerian Muslims all called for total amnesty for Boko Haram members as a pre-condition for halting insecurity in the north.

    The NSGF committee came up with a report believed to have goaded President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent visits to Borno and Yobe states, the president’s first to that violence-prone part of the country since the sect launched its attacks in 2009. Apart from the demand for unconditional amnesty, the 41-man committee that was inaugurated on August 22, 2012 and headed by Ambassador Zakari Ibrahim reportedly requested the immediate release of all Boko Haram detainees against whom there is no established case of criminal involvement; and the immediate prosecution of those against whom there is evidence of criminal involvement before courts of competent jurisdiction, among three other demands.

    While we would gladly support meaningful requests that can bring about desired peace in the northern part of the nation, we take exception to a demand that is hanging in the air such as the one by the northern leaders. Amnesty can only be granted to identifiably penitent people. In this case, Boko Haram members are haughtily unknown and there is nothing to suggest that they are ready to lay down their weapons. President Jonathan was obviously right when he said amnesty is not for ‘ghosts’.

    After all, Imam Abubakar Shekau, the dodgy sect’s spiritual head, has remained recalcitrant to official overtures made to end Boko Haram’s unwarranted attacks, using Islamic religion as a decoy. No wonder that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, have been voluble in their condemnations of the north’s call for amnesty.

    The northern governors and Sultan Abubakar would do the country a lot of good if they can publicly identify the people that have been tormenting their region for years. Surprisingly, the focus of the governors and the Sultan has been on Boko Haram while regrettably forgetting that another dangerous group, Ansaru, purportedly an offshoot of the former, has emerged and has made the abduction of foreigners in that region its specialty. The membership of these two sects is shrouded in secrecy and this makes calls for amnesty an exercise in futility.

    Moreover, the level of incessant destruction by the sects has become intolerable. This development makes the sects’ case to be quite different from the situation in the Niger Delta militancy. Though the activities of Boko Haram/Ansaru and the one by Niger Delta militants smack of criminality, it must be noted that the sects moved a step further with its orgy of wanton killings. And we know that terrorism is a globally condemnable crime against humanity that any serious nation should not condone under whatever guise. Additionally, the militants have economic restoration as the basis of their agitations, but the sects’ members are making unattainable demands that could only lead to dismemberment of the country.

    We demand that the northern leaders should meet with the Boko Haram/Ansaru members and cause them to publicly lay down their arms. It is only then that the call for amnesty can be rational.

  • Boko Haram is Northern civil war, says Danjuma

    Boko Haram is Northern civil war, says Danjuma

    Former Minister of Defence and veteran of the Nigerian Civil War, Lt.- General Theophilus Danjuma said yesterday in Kaduna that the current security challenge in the North has placed the region in a state of war.

    He warned that unless a solution is found urgently the situation may consume everyone in the region.

    The former Chief of Army Staff spoke at a special convocation and launch of a N50 billion endowment fund for the development of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    He described the state of insecurity caused largely by the activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, as highly contagious and one that offers no one any form of immunity.

    Danjuma, who was conferred with a honorary doctorate degree at the occasion, asked the nation’s leaders to emulate the founding fathers who placed a great emphasis on merit and self-reliance to create a united Nigeria irrespective of tribe and religion.He confessed his inability to offer any solution to the security challenges, but said: “It is up to us the elite to get together and brainstorm to solve our problem. I take this opportunity therefore, to appeal to the nation for unity. We must unite to solve our problems.”

    He said that unlike a normal war situation where the enemy is easily identifiable, the enemy in the current ‘war’ in the country cannot easily be identified as they have remained faceless.

    “Given the challenges now facing the nation, this ceremony affords us an appropriate opportunity for reflection. This is no time to doubt or to ask questions what others have done or failed to do. It is time to ask ourselves what we have done or are doing as individuals to preserve or to enhance the heritage bequeathed to us,” he stressed.

    He said further: “In their time our founding fathers placed emphasis on merit and self-reliance. They sought to create a united and self-reliant society based on respect for human life and respect for the rights of others irrespective of tribe or religion. They would certainly be appalled that today the nation is in total anarchy. Human life is very cheap and impunity has become the norm.

    “In the case of the North, the danger is very real indeed. Ladies and gentlemen we are in the middle of civil war in the northern Nigeria. There is no defined front in this particular war. Worst still, the enemy is faceless and unknown. There is no immunity for anyone. Moreover, this war is contagious. Needless to say, the social and economic cost is incalculable.”

    He described ABU as the only truly federal university in the country, as according to him, “every local government area of Nigeria has student(s) in the university and similarly, all states of the federation have representative in the staff profile of the university.”

    Continuing, he said: “Its impact on the northern states is even more so. Some of our greatest nationalists are products of this institution. The lessons that it has taught are valid at all times in all places to all our people, and indeed the world.”

     

  • Northern minorities are marginalised, say Tiv elders

    The president of Tiv Elders Forum(TEF) and ex-Federal Commissioner, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Chief Abu King Shuluwa, has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of abandoning Northern minorities, who massively voted for him in the last election.

    Addressing a news conference in his Makurdi home, Shuluwa said if President Jonathan failed to address the imbalance, northern minority would not support him in 2015.

    Chief Shuluwa, who is a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said apart from Labaran Maku, there is no other person from the northern minority in a position of authority.

    According to him, the Tiv are marginalised to the extent that despite Benue being the food basket of the nation, there is no electricity or federal presence in the state, while projects estimated at billions of Naira are ongoing in the Niger Delta.

    Apart from the Tiv, the Yoruba have also accused President Jonathan of marginalisation in political appointements.

  • Northern governors and street begging

    Northern governors and street begging

    SIR: Street begging is a culture that has long been driven by poverty,religious and ethnic diversity complication. The major players in the demaning culture are the disable and their destitute families (able and disabled). This street begging not only constitute nuisance to the society,it is also taking its toll on the lives of teenagers who either act as guides for beggars or even engage in the act of begging themselves. Many of them are force to sacrifice their education through this trade and with their parent support they end up as beggars.

    Recent statistics released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), shows that over 9.5 million Nigerian children of school age are not in school with about nine million of such hapless childrens are from the northern Nigeria.

    The region covers more than half of Nigeria. It is also a region with vast agricultural potentials as variety of tropical agricultural system is widely practiced there leading to mass cultivation of food and cash crops. This also a region where a lot of mineral resources are found in commercial quantities.

    However,a puzzling facthing of this region is the menace of child street begging which is pervasive especially in the core northern states of Kano, Jigawa, Borno,Yobe, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Adamawa.

    Whichever school of thought one belongs to, it is pertinent to draw the attentions of political leaders, traditional rulers and religious leaders in the northern Nigeria to this untoward social behavior, and the need to put a stop to this practice. It is unfortunate that at this age and time when children should be in school or doing something to keep body and soul together are left to roam about the street all in the name of begging. This urgly trend has it own negative consequences which include, armed robbery, violence, kidnapping, 419 and internet scam.

    A stitch in time saves nine!

     

    • John Akevi, Nitel Qtrs.

    Bauchi.

     

  • Northern leaders should seek for peace first

    Northern leaders should seek for peace first

    SIR: I refer to the lead caption of the Sunday edition of The Nation of January 6, 2015: Babangida, Buhari others begin consultations.

    I concede to these elder-state men of northern extraction the unquestionable right to associate peacefully and confabulate politically. But I do not know whelther these men fall within the class of men cardinal Ottaviani wrote of when he said “nearly everyone can read but only few can think”. If they belong to the class of men who can think their priority will be on how to work for peace, security and unity.

    At this time, some despicable species of Homo sapiens are on the verge of “Afghanistanising “the Nigerian state. Yet these men called elder-statesmen see no need to consult with those merchants of sudden death to lay down their weapon and embrace dialogue in the interest of peace and security. Their sole ambition like men with incurable monomania and irredeemable idée fixe are busy consulting for 2015 presidency.

    If those growing army of Canes Venatici (hunting dogs) succeed in there unthinkable quest to sink this geographical ship called Nigeria in the ocean of disintegration, then which country will Babangida and his associates rule in 2015?

    Sincerely I wish to appeal to them to join hands with the federal government to restore peace back to the northern part of Nigeria. The transformation of places of worship into cemetery by those who kill in the name of religion and education should worry them and not 2015. The killing of fellow men like dogs should be condemned by these elder-statesmen in the interest of security of life and properties. I expect these leaders to push for the end of the on-going groundless hostility.

    I think its imperative to admonish northern leaders with the words of Robert Green that “give to every human being every right you claim for yourself”. If the northern leaders think the presidency is their birth right, then they must be able to concede such right to the Ijaws, Igbos, Yorubas, Benin’s and other tribes which make up Nigeria.

    Finally, those who know General Obasanjo should advice him that he cannot northernise his ethnicity. It is immaterial if he relocates to Kaduna or the North in search of 2015 presidential candidate. The people will decide who governs them. The Ota farmer has just one vote.

     

    • Ehi G.O.

    Benin-City