The Convener, Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango
Abdullahi, has said the concept and practice of justice as a foundational
principle is the most difficult challenge that confronts the country.
He noted that virtually all communities and aggrieved
parties in Nigeria point to the absence of justice in the manner they relate
with each other or the Nigerian State.
Speaking at the Northern Peoples Summit in Kaduna on
Wednesday, Professor Abdullahi explained that no country survives with
injustice, stressing that if Nigeria has to overcome its challenges and grow to
meet the yearnings of future generations, it has to rediscover the place of
justice as the foundation of all systems.
He observed that the North has its issues with Nigeria but
believes they would be best addressed by Nigerians agreeing to collaborate and
find solutions to them, adding that secession is not the solution for any
grievance.
He noted that it is not acceptable that the state should
tolerate growing irredentism which holds communities’ hostage and threatens
national security, pointing out that Nigerians are naturally worried over
alarming rhetorics, suggesting serious elite polarization and failure of the
state to address basic elements that guarantee their co-existence.
“We can vastly improve our mobilization of economic
resources, reduce inefficiencies and waste and improve effective governance if
we take the issues of restructuring more seriously. In the event that those we elected
to represent us believe that this is not what we need, Nigerians should
encourage a citizen-driven review of our foundations and systems, and
democratically put in place leaders who will address them as matters of
national survival or collapse,” he emphasized.
“In this respect, we should advise those who conflate the
vital national imperative to restructure with issues of rotation or zoning the
presidency to avoid doing major injury to our future as a nation.
On insecurity, Abdulahhi said dealing with criminality,
poverty and destitution in the North would require a national effort to
mitigate, saying the nation needs to prepare to consider massive investment in
human capital development, infrastructure and basic security if it will reverse
the rising tide of frustrations, destitution and criminality which afflicts
most of the North.
He noted, “Banditry, insurgency, cultism, piracy and
irredentism are threats to the nation, and they must be treated with a mindset
that appreciates their roots, complexities and solutions in a national context.
As Northerners, we know that the roots of banditry in which Fulani are
substantially involved have very young roots, and it is still possible to
eliminate it, provided we deploy resources and resourceful attitudes towards
dealing with it.
He observed that Boko Haram and armed Fulani criminal
activities are not problems of the North or Kanuri or Fulani but are national
problems and threatens every Nigerian in equal measure, adding that those who
think they can solve the criminality amongst elements of Fulani through ethnic
cleansing make terrible mistakes.
It is not just the Fulani with an AK47 that needs to be
eliminated, every community harbours people who can buy AK47s and do what the
criminal Fulani does.
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