As the North continues to groan under “avoidable” insecurity challenges, the Arewa Cohesion for Peace and Development Initiative has called for the immediate convening of a serious solution -driven summit to address the pathetic situation.
This is just as the Initiative urged the Federal Government to act beyond rhetoric which has continued to be the order of the day.
The Challenges which have robbed the North of peace, prosperity and hope, include conflicts, banditry, terrorism, farmer/herder clashes, kidnapping and violent political rivalries.
Director General, Arewa Cohesion for Peace and Development Initiative, Dr. Idris Abdullahi told a News Conference in Kaduna on Sunday to mark the 2025 International Day of Peace, that it was disturbing that at a time when Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Benue and other States were under siege from armed groups, some elites were proudly staging flamboyant social ceremonies.
Dr. Idris Abdullahi (middle) addressing the Press
Dr. Abdullahi said worst of all, was the refusal of security agencies to act decisively on intelligence at their disposal leaving the State Governors handicapped and citizens abandoned.
” We live in a society that too often glorifies wealth, power and spectacle, while poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and mass displacement tighten their grip on our people. We must shift from celebrating vanity to rewarding integrity, selfless leadership, and genuine action for peace.
Unless such a change in value takes place, the North risks remaining trapped in a vicious cycle of misplaced priorities and perpetual underdevelopment”, he asserted
Turning to the Federal Government, the ACI Director General said the killings, kidnappings and destruction of livelihoods must no longer be met with empty statements.
Protecting lives and fostering peaceful coexistence, he said, must become the nation’s most urgent priority.
The efforts by government and security agencies to restore peace in parts of the North, Dr. Abdullahi reemphasized, were insufficient in the face of the scale and persistence of violence, hence the need to redouble their commitment, act on intelligence swiftly, and strengthen coordination to protect the lives and dignity of citizens.
Above all, the ACI calls on President Bola Tinubu, Governors of Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Benue, Borneo, Plateau, Taraba, Kogi and all Northern leaders to discard what it refers to, as silence and selective engagements.
” You must rise to the urgency of this moment. Visit the victims, comfort the bereaved, empower security agencies to act on credible intelligence, and demonstrate real leadership. History will not forgive inaction when action was most needed,” he said.
On the 2025 International Day of Peace, the Director General says it is the desire of the ACI that the Theme “Act Now for a Peaceful World” to also reflect on the North in particular and Nigeria in general.
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