Northern Elders Reveal Those Responsible For Insecurity In Nigeria

• The elders insist that the attachment of religious and regional considerations in dealing with the crisis in the country, especially in the North East and North West geopolitical zones was the bane of progress in the battle against insecurity

The continuous rise of insecurity in Nigeria particularly in the North has been blamed on some leaders and elders in the Northern region.

Northern Elders under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, in a statement which copy was made available to newsmen on Friday, March 26, blamed incessant attacks on residents in the region on leaders who according to them had an idea of the danger at the beginning of the crisis but refused to tell the truth.

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The Northern Elders noted that such considerations resulted in the advice to President Muhammadu Buhari not to appoint security chiefs outside the Northern region. They further linked heightened insecurity in the North to the appointments made by Buhari in the security circle with little consideration for professionalism and proven competence.

The statement reads in part: “As difficult as it’s in speaking the truth, we feel constrained to admit that our quick resort to religious, ethnic and regional considerations led us to advise the president in the wrong directions.

“The war against insecurity could have been a thing of the past if we had made good and informed decisions.

We believe the complete consideration of our interest in making appointments into security agencies, among other things, led us to this present situation. Our decision resulted in a deep drop in the pursuit of the war against terrorists, thus emboldened the adversaries on the other hand.”

The statement which was delivered to reporters by Engr. Goni Zana, the group’s National Coordinator, the Northern elders, alleged that wrong advice from some leaders and elders of the region to President Buhari resulted in many disturbing events in the country.

The elders urged President Buhari to henceforth, avoid paying attention to advice from people of narrow interest and begin to make only decisions that are pro-Nigeria to correct the many ills of his administration towards a better Nigeria.

The statement added, “We wish to once again raise the alarm over the deteriorating state of security in the North. We’ve been crying and will continue to cry until the situation gets better.

“We are losing it as a country, and Mr. President needs to take extra steps before we are consumed at the rate at which we are going now if nothing is done within the shortest possible time, we may not have a country to call our own. The era of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is over. We cannot continue to dwell in the past. It’s time to move forward now.”

The statement read further: “Mr. President must ignore every sectional, regional, tribal and religious sentiments and go for the best hands that can do this job of securing our country.

“As northern elders who are concerned about the peace, security and stability of our dear nation, we wish to appeal to those people of influence in the North who have access to the president to always speak the truth to him especially in appointments or reforms in the security sectors and others even if it doesn’t favour our region and religion provided such appointments will bring lasting peace and unify Nigeria.”