The Northern Elders Forum on Monday gave President Goodluck Jonathan up to October to produce the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect or forget his 2015 presidential re-election bid.
The Alhaji Sule Maitama-led NEF noted that the warning became imperative because they were in firm conviction that the insurgency occasioned by the activities of the sect and other related security challenges posed a threat to the 2015 elections and the survival of the nation.
“In the light of our firm conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October 2014,” Mr. Solomon Dalung, ex-Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, said at a press briefing in Kaduna on Monday.
The former Speaker, who spoke on behalf of the Northern Elders Forum said failure of the president to produce the Chibok girls and tackle other security challenges in the land, amounts to the forfeiture of his rights to ask for another mandate to lead Nigeria beyond 2015.
According to him, circumstances under which the people of Gwoza in Borno State live as if there is no government was unacceptable.
He said the trend must be reversed immediately, pointing out that “in the event that President Jonathan fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with the only conclusion that he has forfeited his right to ask for our mandate beyond 2015.”
He said the lack of strong will by the president to fight, coupled with the thriving corruption in his government, as well as incompetence had allowed the insurgency in the north to continue unabated.
The development, had forced the Forum to resolve that most of the security challenges in some parts of the region were being carried out to weaken the North politically.
At the press briefing which was also attended by former INEC Secretary, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Said Dalung said, “The security situation in our nation today represents the most serious threat to our individual and collective lives in our entire history. The reality is that the threats posed by what appears to be an insurgency that has many manifestations and defies a clear and consistent identity is growing due to the absence of a clear national consensus over its nature, and it solutions.
“The Northern Elders Forum does not believe that the Nigerian military cannot defeat these terrorists. We also reject the notion that multiple internal security challenges such as attacks on villages, ethno-religions conflicts and banditry springing up by the day in many parts of the North are all a coincidence.
“Indeed, we are convinced that most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically by interests which intend to exploit such weaknesses for electoral benefits.
“It is no secret that the vast majority of Northerners lament their marginalisation, insecurity and poverty, and blame it in large part on the inability of unwillingness of its past and present leaders to utilise all access to power which they enjoy, to bring us redress and relief.
“General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, General Abdussalami Abubakar, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Architect Namadi Sambo, General T.Y Danjuma and all retired Chief Justices of Nigeria from the North represent grossly under-utilised assets of the North. The NEF joins millions of Northerners in appealing to these leaders to raise their levels of involvement in the fortunes of our region.”
The Alhaji Sule Maitama-led NEF noted that the warning became imperative because they were in firm conviction that the insurgency occasioned by the activities of the sect and other related security challenges posed a threat to the 2015 elections and the survival of the nation.
“In the light of our firm conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October 2014,” Mr. Solomon Dalung, ex-Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, said at a press briefing in Kaduna on Monday.
The former Speaker, who spoke on behalf of the Northern Elders Forum said failure of the president to produce the Chibok girls and tackle other security challenges in the land, amounts to the forfeiture of his rights to ask for another mandate to lead Nigeria beyond 2015.
According to him, circumstances under which the people of Gwoza in Borno State live as if there is no government was unacceptable.
He said the trend must be reversed immediately, pointing out that “in the event that President Jonathan fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with the only conclusion that he has forfeited his right to ask for our mandate beyond 2015.”
He said the lack of strong will by the president to fight, coupled with the thriving corruption in his government, as well as incompetence had allowed the insurgency in the north to continue unabated.
The development, had forced the Forum to resolve that most of the security challenges in some parts of the region were being carried out to weaken the North politically.
At the press briefing which was also attended by former INEC Secretary, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Said Dalung said, “The security situation in our nation today represents the most serious threat to our individual and collective lives in our entire history. The reality is that the threats posed by what appears to be an insurgency that has many manifestations and defies a clear and consistent identity is growing due to the absence of a clear national consensus over its nature, and it solutions.
“The Northern Elders Forum does not believe that the Nigerian military cannot defeat these terrorists. We also reject the notion that multiple internal security challenges such as attacks on villages, ethno-religions conflicts and banditry springing up by the day in many parts of the North are all a coincidence.
“Indeed, we are convinced that most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically by interests which intend to exploit such weaknesses for electoral benefits.
“It is no secret that the vast majority of Northerners lament their marginalisation, insecurity and poverty, and blame it in large part on the inability of unwillingness of its past and present leaders to utilise all access to power which they enjoy, to bring us redress and relief.
“General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, General Abdussalami Abubakar, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Architect Namadi Sambo, General T.Y Danjuma and all retired Chief Justices of Nigeria from the North represent grossly under-utilised assets of the North. The NEF joins millions of Northerners in appealing to these leaders to raise their levels of involvement in the fortunes of our region.”
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