…Reject Rotational Presidency

…Want Political Elite to be Sensitive to Region’s Pluralism

…Demand Gov’t Backed Negotiations, Dialogue with Boko Haram, Bandits, Communities

…Believe Every Interest Can be Accommodated in a United, Just, Equitable Nation.

Leaders of northern Nigeria from 17 groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), have resolved that the North was now ready for restructuring of Nigeria. But they scoff at the idea of rotating the presidency with the South. They also called on Northern elites and political leadership to improve their levels of sensitivity to inclusiveness and management of the North’s pluralism.

These were the high points of deliberations at the two day Northern People’s Summit held in Kaduna.

“The North believes that restructuring the country is now a vital necessity for survival as one united entity.

“The North will not be stampeded or blackmailed into taking major decisions around rotating the presidency,” they said in the 12 point communique released on Friday, reinforcing the leeway of the North against the South..

The communique reads in part: “The Northern Peoples Summit convened on the 7th and 8th April, 2021 at Arewa House, Kaduna, to discuss the issues bedeviling the North and the Nigerian State. These include security, restructuring, economic, politics and the survival of the Nigerian State.

“After two days’ intensive discussions, the summit resolved as follows:

“To sustain the summit as a productive forum for utilising pan-Northern assets in the search for resolution of Northern problems;

“To encourage Northern elites and political leadership to improve their levels of sensitivity to inclusiveness and management of the North’s pluralism. The North will be stronger if it addresses its internal weaknesses, particularly around ethno-religious matters, as it relates to its challenges with the rest of Nigeria. Perception and practise of creating minorities and majorities among Northerners should have no place in the North, nor is discrimination on the basis of place, faith or ethnic group of any Northerner;

“The North believes that restructuring the country is now a vital necessity for survival as one united entity.

“The North will not be stampeded or blackmailed into taking major decisions around rotating the presidency.

“The North draws attention of the country to the inherent fragility of the Nigerian state. For Nigeria to survive, all parts of the country must equally commit to supporting its continuation as one entity, without equivocation or subterfuge. The North extends an invitation to groups that are genuinely interested in discussing the future of the country. The North believes that every interest can be accommodated in one united, just and equitable nation, but the North cannot be the sole custodian of this endeavour.

“The North warns against the continuation of demonisation, attacks and killings of Northerners in the Southern parts of the country. It demands that federal and state governments must take firmer steps to protect members of Northern communities who live in the South. This includes the arrest and prosecution of persons who are involved in these dangerous activities.

“The North urges Northern communities to continue to exercise restraint and be good hosts.

“The North invites the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari, Northern Governors and legislators to the fact that under their watch, the North has sunk lower in all indices of human existence. Delegates at the summit commit to continuously engage in searching for solutions, as well as raising their voices against poor governance, corruption and absence of commitment to deal with insecurity, poverty and hopelessness among Northerners.

“Government should show effective presence in all ungoverned spaces in the North. “The North resolves that there should be government backed negotiations and dialogue with the bandits, Boko Haram and affected communities for effective peace in the North.

“The North appreciates the response of H.E. Governor of Plateau State and Chairman, Northern Governors Forum (NGF) Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, to its invitation to attend the summit and be a resource person who enriched our discussions.

The communique also says the Northern Peoples Summit will reconvene in the near future.

Signatories to the communique include Air Marshal Al-amin Daggash, Northern Elders Forum (NEF); Ambassador Ibrahim Mai-Sule, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); Dr Usman Bugaje, Arewa Research Development Project (ARDP); Engr. Bello Suleiman, Code Group (CG); Dr Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe; The Northern Movement (TNM); Dr Innocent Ahure, Northern Development Resource Centre (NDRC) and Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, Kano Concern Citizens Initiative (KCCI).

Others are Hajiya Bilkisu Oniyangi, Arewa Initiative for Good Governance (AIGG); Dr Rose Danladi Idi, Northern Initiative Forum for Development (NIFD); Nastrura Ashir Shariff, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG); Yerima Shettima, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF); Murtala Mohammed, Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Association (JACNYA); Comrade D. S. Rimoni, Middle Belt People Assembly (MBPA); Alhaji Muhammed Tahir, Amalgamated Union of Food Stuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria, Alhaji Auwal Tukur (Galadiman Delta), Northern Union Rep. South South; Alhaji Iliyasu Yushau (Sarkin Hausawa Onitsha), Northern Union Reps South East; Alhaji Aliyu Yaro, Northern Union Rep. South West and Professor D. D. D. Sheni, chairman, Communique Drafting Committee.

In a related issue, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said the recent attacks and killings of northerners in some southern states are part of contrived plan to provoke the North into bloody action in revenge.

Deputy Chairman of ACF, Senator Ibrahim Ida stated this in Kaduna while reacting to the attacks during the Northern People’s Summit.

After a careful assessment, he said the North must ensure that nobody takes it for granted or underestimates the region as it is the fabric holding the nation together.

According to him, “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 underestimate us. Let us change the template, portray our interest in the way we want it,” he said.

Speaking further, Senator Ida said the North requires internal cohesion through elite consensus as the region is presently at crossroad considering its numerous problems.

According to him, “the North is at crossroad. 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 then see things our own way. There is absence of inclusion in the way we run our affairs,” he said.

Also speaking, the former Speaker House of Representatives, Mr Ghali Umar Na’abba said “in the last 60 years, the system has worked for Northerners. Lots of people are eligible to contest but not suitable to lead” because “leadership is not for everybody. It is not an all comers affair; leaders must possess so many virtues.

“In 1999 when I realized that there was an agenda against the North, I did everything possible to ensure it doesn’t succeed but it is among our Governors that I met one of the stiffest oppositions. Some of them because they want to come back, some because they want to become president, worked with the President who wants to destroy the North”, Na’abba claimed.

Photo: a cross section of northern leaders at a meeting