ABUJA— Northern youths,
yesterday, spurned the
Federal Government’s offer
of N5.8 billion
compensation to the
families of the victims of the 2011 post-election
violence that rocked most
parts of the North and a
few southern states. The youths, who
denounced the offer
through the National
President of the Arewa
Youths Consultative Forum,
Alhaji Yerima Shettima, noted that the offer was a
Greek gift from the
Presidency to the affected
states so as to win their
support for President
Jonathan’s re-election in 2015. Yerima, who queried the
sincerity of the
government in the offer,
wondered why it had
taken President Jonathan
more than two years to remember the families of
the victims while the
issues that gave rise to the
violence were yet to be
addressed. The youth leader noted, “to
us, we see this as medicine
after death and a
desperate attempt to woo
the North once again to
support Jonathan’s re- election in 2015. ” But, we are not fools and
can no longer be taken for
granted by those who
think that they can always
deceive us and get away
with it. “Why has the government
suddenly remembered that
so many families lost their
loved ones and property
since April 2011? This
government is not sincere to us and they have
continued to make a
mockery of the people of
the north, thinking that we
are fools. “It is unfortunate that the
Federal Government is just
realising that it should
release the money for the
compensation of the
families of the victims, some of who have since
died out of frustration and
hardship. Why have they
released the money with
just a few months to the
beginning of electioneering for the 2015
Presidency? “We want right-thinking
Nigerians to read between
the lines and know that
this government has never
been sincere with the
people and that it is not responsive enough to the
yearning and aspirations of
the people of Nigeria,
particularly, the north that
has been afflicted by series
of violence in recent years. “The Presidency should
stop playing politics with
everything in Nigeria. It
should be able to
differentiate between
providing service to humanity and playing to
the gallery for political
gains,” the ACF leader
warned. The Federal Government,
yesterday, announced the
approval for the release of
N5,747,694,780.00 to nine
states of the federation for
direct disbursement to those who suffered losses
of property, means of
livelihood and places of
worship in the post-
election violence of 2011. Special Adviser to the
President on Media and
Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati,
who announced this, said
government’s decision was
to assist those who suffered losses during the
crisis as recommended by
the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu
panel that was set up after
the crisis. The states to benefit from
the money, according to
Abati, are, Bauchi, Sokoto,
Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa,
Katsina, Kano, Adamawa
and Akwa-Ibom. Abati explained that the
interest of those who died
in the course of the crisis
would be accommodated
by the Federal
Government. It would be recalled that
following the post-election
violence and civil
disturbances in some
states after the April 2011
elections, President Jonathan set up a panel of
enquiry headed by Sheik
Ahmed Lemu, to among
other things, identified the
spread and extent of losses
suffered across the country. The committee
recommendation was
adopted by the Federal
Executive Council which
directed the Federal
Ministry of Lands and Housing to assess the
reported losses and
damage to property in all
affected states. The Special Adviser to the
president noted that based
on the Ministry’s report,
“President Jonathan has
approved the release of
funds to nine of the 14 affected states as follows:
Bauchi; N1,574,879,000.00;
Sokoto, N55,888,506.00;
Zamfara, N93,253,485.00;
Niger, N433,375,875.00;
and Jigawa, N208,667,634.00. Others include: Katsina,
N1,973,209,440.00; Kano,
N944,827,000.00;
Adamawa,
N420,089,840.00 and
Akwa Ibom N43,504,000.00. The presidential
spokesman explained that”
Inspection and assessment
of damages and losses
suffered are yet to be
carried out in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna and
Nasarawa states as
modalities and further
instructions for the ex
ercise are still being
expected from the state governments. “Funds to cover the losses
sustained by victims of the
post election violence in
these five states will be
approved and released at
the conclusion of the assessment exercise” he
said.http://vanguardngr.com