AT AREWA PEACE & UNITY MEETING: Lamentation song of leaders

By  Luka Binniyat
In brief
At last week’s Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Peace and Unity Meeting, it was almost all about lamentation from a leadership that appears to be worried, even panicky, about the future of Northern Nigeria in a continually evolving nation

The Arewa Conference on Peace and Unity took place last week in Kaduna. The Conference was well attended by members of Northern Governors Forum, NGF, senators and members of the House of Representatives from the region as well as traditional rulers of mostly Hausa/Fulani areas.

Most of the notable traditional leaders of ethnic tribes (non-Fulani), including those of Kaduna – the host state – stayed away. Northern academics, past senior military and police officers along with security chiefs were there too.

Gowon, Sultan of Sokoto, Yakowa and Sambo

The Conference was chaired by General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) and in attendance was the Vice President, Arch. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, who also represented President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

The participants spoke but their statements were largely that of lamentation (though there were some statements capable of invoking inspiration:

Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo

“It is not out of place to say that the physical and psychological wounds inflicted on the North as a result of the recurring religious, ethnic and political conflicts that ravaged it, including the socio-economic depressions in recent years, that run deep and inflicted untold hardship to many, have not only traumatized its inhabitants but have slowed its progress considerably. Suggesting the usual quick-fixes cannot possibly be the solution to these drawbacks. Gradually and within a reasonable period of time, through hard work, sacrifice and dedication we shall rebuild the trust in ourselves, amongst ourselves, between ourselves and in our country”

General Yakubu Gowon, Chairman of the Conference

“I have been an ardent supporter and advocate of the views and differences within the north notwithstanding and the nation as a whole; we are stronger as a whole than as smaller entities. This is very true to our nation, Nigeria. We are better as one united Nigeria than smaller entities.

But at the same time, I am of the opinion that the whole, the big unit must give its various parts some sense of belonging and look out for the interest of the smaller parts as a guarantee for its own security”.

Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State

“It is important that we as leaders and stakeholders in the north must unveil the forces of disunity in our midst, expose and highlight the causes of conflicts and point an irrevocable way forward for our region and the country.

This is because, today, the long enjoyed peaceful co-existence among people of the north is terribly threatened by all sorts of violence. We must realize that every eruption of violence in our region constitutes a very unnecessary drawback which retards our progress while other parts of Nigeria keep moving on and developing”

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III

“We know there are problems, let’s not deceive ourselves. How did we get into these problems? What really happened? Were we lagging some 15, 20 years back? Why do we have crisis everywhere? Muslims killing Muslims, Muslims killing Christians, Christians killing Christians, etc.

Our founding fathers did not do that, so where have we derailed? We must come back to the path of our founding fathers if we want to make any progress”

Governor Babangida Aliyu, Chairman, Northern Governors Forum

“I am, of the view that unless we are all committed to ‘work the talk’, by signing up to implementable decisions on all the issues on the agenda of this conference, we will continue to have well organised events of this nature and beautiful recommendations that may not have meaningful bearings with the realities on the ground and in improving the quality of life of the average northern citizen of this country. We must be able to feed our population, provide good, free and compulsory education at the nursery, primary and secondary school levels, while providing guarantees that all qualified children can enjoy the benefits of tertiary education. We should endeavour to establish peaceful and conducive environment, be more tolerant and accommodative”

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto

“Today, 99 percent of our discussions are on Sardauna and about Sardauna; but we are being hypocritical. We are seriously looking at almajiri in the north, while the southern states are far developing their educational system to the extent that, the number of universities in one of their states is more than ours in our whole zone”

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“We keep talking about Sardauna, Tafawa Balewa and the rest of them. They did a good job and showed the way to the people who are our fathers here today. He left you with the responsibility of carrying on with his good work. Some of you did the job very well. But many of you failed.

The Governor of Plateau State Da Jona Jang, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Pam Pyojock

“The problem in the north is that some northerners have imported mercenaries from Chad and Niger Republics to engaged the Middle Belt area in a war over the contest of land and expansion of religion and grab of resources. With the desert fast spreading southward, the demand for land is putting pressure on the frontline states of Plateaus and parts of the Middle Belt.

Mercenaries are being imported from Niger and Chad, because of the porous nature of our borders, This is evident from the fact that anytime some extremists are caught in violence on the plateau, some of them turn out to come from these countries. In fact, they end up as a nuisance to those who brought them, because they no longer take orders from them. The issue of desertification is therefore a very serious problem. How we preach and propagate our religion is also another problem”.