BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI
ILORIN—The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, is to convene a meeting of stakeholders in the North to address insecurity and disunity brought about by the activities of  the Boko Haram sect in the North.

This is part of the strategies mapped out  by ACF to eliminate violence or discriminations that had encouraged disunity and violence which could be traced mainly to bigotry as well as protracted problems of Almajris among others.

Chairman, Contacts, Mobilisation and Planning Committee of the forum, Alhaji Mohammed Gusau,  said this when he led other members of the committee on a courtesy visit to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in his office in Ilorin, Kwara State, yesterday.

He said: ’’We are worried about certain development in the North, particularly as it relates to violence allegedly orchestrated by miscreants, and others that border  on religion.

‘’It is disheartening that, what we have been experiencing in some parts of the North is against the wishes of the late Sardauna of Sokoto and this must be stopped to move the region forward.

’’Unfortunately, on a number of occasions, lives and properties were lost. These were not the dreams of our founding fathers.

‘’We cannot continue to watch and allow this to degenerate, so the forth- coming conference is expected to address all these problems,’’ he said.

Gusau said that the proposed conference would enable stakeholders like  the 19 Northern Governors, legislators, among other political office holders of northern extraction to discuss the way forward on the issues affecting the region and thereby come up with the workable strategies aimed at improving the fortunes of the region, as according to him, the present situation in the north was against what the people used to experience  in the area where Muslims and Christians used to co-habit peacefully.

Alhaji Gusua also also said that, there was a great responsibility to rehabilitate collapsed industries, to improve commerce and find lasting solutions to child-begging in the area to restore glory and respect for the region.

Responding, Governor Ahmed lamented the situation where the north had found itself saying that, the only way out of the present situation was to go back to an agricultural- driven economy.

The Governor said that the north was blessed with fertile soil that if well harnessed, would add values to the economic growth of the region, adding that,  the development would not allow the northern state governments to bother about derivation fund from the Federal Government.

Ahmed who preached religious tolerance among Nigerians also advocated for regional agricultural banks that would provide soft loans to farmers to boost agriculture, regretting that, lack of political will by leaders  to address issues had been the bane of the nation.