Agaju Madugba
9 December 2011
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, has reviewed the apparent state of general insecurity in parts of the north, regretting that the area is doomed as opportunities for investment may no longer exist.
“Fire is on the roof of northern Nigeria and the implication is that poverty will be on the increase, for an area that is already lagging behind other sections of the country, in all developmental indices,” Maku lamented yesterday in Kaduna.
He spoke at the Arewa House, during a round table organized by the Kaduna State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), as part of activities to mark the 2011 Press Week.
He said it was shameful that northern leaders allowed the situation to degenerate to such a level and urged them to redefine their values and allow justice to reign in the area.
He said: “The north is marching backwards and the current developments will take the north 50 years back.
“If this situation is not arrested within the next two years, nobody will go to certain areas in the north and if we do not put out this fire, it will spread to other parts of the country.
“What is happening today in the north calls for greater responsibility because we have sinned and must return to the right path, otherwise, we will continue to have crises in the north.
“Killing of fellow human beings has become a norm in our communities and our religious beliefs have been turned upside down and we just have to stop playing games.
“Religion is subject to quick abuse and that is why there should be standards before anybody becomes a preacher or religious leaders, in any of the religions.”
Maku said the Federal Government had taken steps and exploiting all possible avenues towards the restoration of peace in all parts of the country and that government had already taken steps to address unemployment in the country.
“The Federal Government has set aside the sum of N45 billion to promote the development of agriculture especially in the north as the area has been segmented to produce certain agricultural crops, not only for local consumption but also for export and we estimate that this will create about two million new jobs for the north.
“Very soon, government will ban the importation of rice into this country because there is no reason why we should continue to import rice.”
He said government has equally embarked on the building of a total of 37 special schools across the northern states, to tackle the menace of the Almajiranci in the area.
Chairman of the Kaduna-based Desmins Television, Dr. Nafiu Baba-Ahmed, said the Federal Government should take the blame for the recurrent religious strife in parts the country.
“It is the responsibility of government to enforce the Constitution but it has failed to do so because nobody or government has the right to stop any religious group to build mosques and churches in any part of this country,” he said and described the recent peace conference organized by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) as farce.
“Majority of the participant at that conference are old northerners who have become intellectually bankrupt and the fact that they engaged the services of over 1000 policemen to guard them shows that there is no way they can ever make any headway,” Baba-Ahmed said.
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