Former Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) says the neglect of human capital development and other activities that facilitate growth in the north has contributed to the woes and pathetic situation of things in the region.
Audu Ogbeh, ACF chairman, said this when the forum met with Babagana Zulum, Borno governor.
Ekohotblog reports that Ogbeh led a delegation to Maiduguri to meet with the governor and condole with him over the killing of over 43 farmers by Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari community of the state.
The former minister said politics is the only thriving industry in the region, adding that youths in the region have resorted to violence in other to earn a living.
“We are depressed, very depressed. And anyone of us, of our age, who was not depressed, he was not well-born. Because we have nothing to leave behind for our children, and violence will not sustain us,” a statement on Monday quoted Ogbeh as saying.
“The tragedy of the north today is that the only industry left is politics, and politics alone has never grown any society”
Also Read: Arewa Forum Berates Buhari Over Perennial Insecurity In The North
Ogbe bemoaned the deterioration of the agricultural industry in the region, saying that the region needs to re-grow and find ways out of the current quagmire.
He also unveiled the forum’s plan to revive the region’s economy, saying it will commence a programme geared towards “developing small-scale agro-industries across the north.”
“We have to re-grow Borno state, we have to re-grow the north, we have to re-grow Nigeria. We have no industries, agriculture has declined and our own children have now turned to violence as a means of livelihood.
“Your Excellency, in ACF we have decided that we will not talk too much politics, we decided to focus on something else, we are going to start a program of developing small-scale agro-industries across the north.”
On his part, Zulum thanked the forum for commiserating with him and the state over the killings.
The governor asked the federal government to find lasting solutions to the insurgency in the north-east.
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