Barely two weeks after
threatening to raise an army against the killer herdsmen in Benue State, elder
statesman and Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr Paul Unongo has
stepped down.
He resigned yesterday at an
emergency meeting of the Forum in Abuja.
Unongo, who succeeded the late former
Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Maitama Sule, last
year as Convener of the elite Northern group, convened the emergency meeting
where he informed members of the Forum of his decision to step aside.
Speaking with newsmen after his
resignation, Unongo said he stepped down on his own volition so as to give way
for a new leader who will ensure dutiful implementation of the suggestions he
had made as well as help move the forum forward.
“I opted to step down because of
my conviction that the time has come for the NEF to produce the type of leaders
that will implement some suggestions we have made. My stepping down will also
afford me the opportunity to concentrate fully on other things that will
further move the country forward”, Unongo said.
He told newsmen that the forum
accepted his decision to step aside and even gave him the choice of selecting a
successor.
“But I gave them the freedom to
choose whoever they want and I will give the person my full support”, he noted.
Confirming the development in a
statement signed by its spokesperson, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, NEF said it
accepted Unongo’s resignation reluctantly, even as it approved that the deputy
Convener, Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, should hold forth in the interim until a
new Convener is appointed.
Abdullahi stated: “The Forum
reluctantly accepted the offer of its Convener to step aside to allow the
emergence of a structured leadership which should prepare the Forum to deal
with many of the challenges facing the North.
“It took note of the sterling
contributions of Wantaregh Paul Unongo to the foundation and development of the
Northern Elders Forum along with its late predecessor and confident, Danmasanin
Kano Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule.
“The Forum has been assured by
Wantaregh Paul Unongo of his life-time commitment to the goals and projects of
the Forum, and is grateful for the fatherly and statemanly status which he will
continue to place at the service of the Forum.
“The Forum has approved that the
Deputy Convener, Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, CON should assume responsibility for
the interim leadership of the Forum. Further reorganization of the Forum will
be undertaken in the next few days”.
The statement further disclosed
that at the meeting, NEF also reviewed some critical national developments,
particularly the tensions about national security challenges generated by
killings in many communities, in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna, Zamfara and
other parts of the country. According to Abdullahi, the Forum while commiserating
with families and communities that lost members and assets, called on the
federal and state governments as well as security agencies to take more
decisive steps to restore the security of lives and property of citizens.
He continued: “The Forum calls on
all leaders to exercise the highest levels of restraint and responsibility in
the manner they exercise their powers to shape opinion and determine the
responses of the citizens.
“It appeals to all communities to
maintain vigilance over their relations with each other, and seek solutions
that do not involve endemic conflicts that leave all of us as losers.
“The Forum will continue to seek
all opportunities and avenues to engage leaders, governments and all
stakeholders in the search for peace and security in the North and Nigeria.
“The Forum re-examined its basic
philosophy and record, and has been re-assured that it represents a strategic
asset for all Northerners, irrespective of location, ethnicity or faith. “It is
motivated, under the circumstances, to seek to re-assure all communities that
it will defend and protect the interests of all Northerners and it will not
succumb to blackmail and mischief that will reduce it as a platform for only
one type of Northerner”.
Unongo’s appointment as NEF chairman
was announced last year July during a visit by members of the forum to the
residence of the late Maitama Sule at Dawaki Road, GRA in Kano.
In his acceptance speech, Unongo
had said, “One evidence of our commitment as one Northern entity and to sustain
the legacy left behind by Danmasanin is the decision of my colleagues in the
Forum to trust me with its leadership.
“This clearly shows that our
commitment to reinforcing the idea of one North, one people as left behind by
Danmasanin was not just a slogan but the expression of the reality that while
we may speak different languages and worship God in different ways, history,
destiny and the realities of our existence have combined to make us one entity
as northerners who must swim or sink together”.
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