By Suzan Edeh
An attempt by some renowned political elders in the Northeast to find a homegrown solution to the sectarian and security crises in the region is swallowed up in intrigues as all six governors in the region gang-up against the troubleshooting elders. Why?

WHEN a group of elders in the north-east geo-political zone of the country under the auspices of the North-East Forum of Concerned Leaders decided last June to address the spate of insecurity and other problems troubling the region, they were not oblivious of the fact that the task ahead of them was enormous.

As concerned elders, they observed that problems associated with insecurity, politics, unemployment, poverty, education and health  were fast destroying the rich potentials of the region and that if nothing was done to solve the situation, the north would become a shadow of itself.

At that meeting, it was resolved that the forum should transform itself into a permanent body to promote the unity and development of the sub-region, hence the decision to transform as the North-East Forum for Unity and Development,(NEFUND).

It was also resolved to establish organs and committees to achieve the objectives of peace, unity and development of the region. The organs of the forum were to include the committee of patrons, the board of trustees and central working committee.

From left: Gen T.Y Danjuma (rtd), Adamu Ciroma and Ango Abdullahi

The central working committee which has representatives from the six states actually met on several occasions and selected people into the several organs of the forum.

Last Saturday, the forum reconvened again for another meeting in Bauchi where some committees were to be inaugurated, but it turned into an anti-climax.

The sequence of events that unfolded during the meeting suggested a different ball game altogether and the aim of the meeting was apparently defeated.  Present at the meeting were three former ministers, General Theophilus Danjuma, Adamu and Aliyu Moddibo.

Other personalities in attendance included serving and former lawmakers, youth and women leaders. One noticeable observation, however, was the absence of the six governors from the six states of the north-east geo-political zone of the country. As Chief Security Officers of their respective states, it was expected that they would show concern on the agenda of the forum.

Governors’  absence

The unanswered question in the minds of the audience as to the albescence of the six Governors was answered when General Danjuma who was expected to inaugurate the seven action committees mounted the stage to say that he would not do so.

According to Danjuma, the absence of the Governors at the meeting was a disappointment to members of the North-East Unity and Development Forum because the insecurity issue is a major concern to everybody in the country, but regretted that by their conduct, the governors had shown that they were not so much as concerned.

Lamenting the attitude of the governors to the meeting, he said: “Three days ago, I was informed by one of the governors that all six of them had resolved not to attend and mandated one of them to advise me not to attend because they believed there was a hidden agenda behind the meeting. Although, I am in no position to pass judgment on the allegation made by the governors, they have succeeded in creating doubts in my mind with regard to the motive behind this meeting”.

Danjuma, who noted that
security was the number one challenge facing the North-East, suggested that the meeting should be postponed pending when the inaugurated security committee is able to appeal to the governors to attend. He disassociated himself from a statement made by the chairman of the central working committee, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Kirfi, who said, in his speech, that the North-East should secede from Nigeria. “I dare say that if need be by pulling out of Nigeria, we must take our destiny in our hands,” Kirfi had said.

Speaking in the same vein, the former Minister of Police Affairs, Dr.Ibrahim Yakubu Lame explained that the absence of the six Governors at the meeting was uncalled for. According to Lame, “ before we embarked on this noble cause of this meeting, we approached the Governors to request their presence at the meeting and they agreed that they were going to come, but sadly enough, we are surprised when they later called General Danjuma and warned him against attend this meeting. We are embarrassed by this hypocritical attitude by the Governors .This action taken by the Governors has solidly proved to the people that they are the ones fighting against the progress of their respective states.”

With this development, it is not far-fetched saying that the north-east region has a divided house.

The state Governors on one side are alleging that the elders cannot solve the problems of the north given that their mission is not transparent while the elders allege apathy on the part of the governors who ordinarily should be at the forefront in securing the peace of the region.