Northern Group Demands Urgent Step From FG In Tackling Insecurity

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on Wednesday implored the northern state and federal government to find an urgent and lasting solution to perennial insecurity that pervades the north.

The forum made the call in a communique issued by it spokesman, Emmanuel Yahwe, after the first meeting of the newly elected national working committee (NWC) headed by Audu Ogbeh, former minister of agriculture in Kaduna.

The forum asked religious, traditional and political leaders to desist from incendiary statements in order not to aggravate the tension in the region.

ACF also urged the governors of northern states to pay adequate attention to agriculture.

The forum also bemoan low school enrollment in the region has , appealing to governors of the 19 states in the region “to take urgent steps to enhance school enrollment and eradicate the rampant incidence of street begging which is very unhealthy for the overall development of the north.”

“Northern states should take advantage of the N75 billion loan to farmers in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing in Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL),” the communique read.

“Unemployment has become a big menace to the northern region. State governors are advised to design employment schemes for our teeming youths who have become frustrated and pose an additional threat to the security of the north and the country.

“State governors are also advised to key into programmes of the federal government designed to offer employment to the youth and alleviate poverty.”