The Chairman of the NSGF, Babangida Aliyu, has
lamented the rising number of attacks by
insurgents and called for a political will by members of the
forum to wipe them out.
“The situation has gone beyond the normal pattern that we gave to
Boko Haram and I think we need to really appreciate the gravity of the situation,”
Aliyu, told journalists.
The governor , who spoke on the agenda of a one-day general
meeting by the forum, said now was the time for the
NSGF to give the Federal Government every support to
root out Boko Haram.
He said, “ We must take a position on the crisis in the
North-East. If it is a political will on our part, we must create that
political will to end the crisis in the North-East.
“Many countries will go to war on the death of one person but we
seem to be callous about what is happening in the North-East. We
must encourage the government (Federal Government) to arrest the
situation.”
Aliyu, who is also the governor of Niger State, urged his
colleagues to be frank and refrain from any partisanship in discussing
some of the challenges confronting the region.
Apart from the security situation in the region, other issues that
formed the agenda of the meeting, were oil and gas exploration;
cattle rustling and the Almajiri system.
Among those who attended the Monday meeting were
Governor Musa Kwakwanso of Kano State, Ahmed Abdulfattah (Kwara),
Usman Dakingari (Kebbi) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue).
The deputy governors of Jigawa, Gombe, Kogi and
Katsina represented their states.
Suswam’s presence at the meeting was a surprise to
his colleagues and journalists as he had in June 2013 vowed not to attend any
activity by the NSGF.
He arrived at the late Gen. Hassan Katsina House, venue of the meeting
at about 11.19am in a black Mercedes Benz jeep marked
ABC 928 AL and went straight into the presidential lodge where the
meeting took place.
Suswam, his Bauchi and Katsina state counterparts, Issa Yuguda and
Ibrahim Shema, had in the wake of the controversial election of the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum which gave rise to two factions, alleged
betrayal by their colleagues in the region.
They had claimed that they endorsed Plateau Governor Jonah
Jang as their consensus candidate for the NGF top post.
In the election which was held in Abuja,
Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, scored 19 as against 16 votes
garnered by Jang .
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Politics