2015: Northern elders draw battle
line
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF)
yesterday said power must return to
the North in 2015, warning governors
in the zone to cue behind the power-
for-North struggle or see themselves
as anti-North. The elders also
threatened to take the Federal
Government to the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) for the killings of
civilians in the recent Baga carnage if
the security forces deployed to the
area were found culpable of mass
killing by a set of lawyers constituted
by the forum to probe the incident.
Led by its Chairman, Malam Maitaima
Sule, Dan Mansaini Kano, the forum
during a meeting in Maiduguri, Borno
State with Borno Elders and after its
visit to the governor of the state,
Kashim Shettima, said though the
northerners threw away the
presidency few years ago by some
political errors, adding that elders in
the North had decided that it was time
to return the presidency to the region.
“We are not happy that the North is
not playing active role in the present
day. That is why we decided to bring
together our surviving elders. We
resolved that something must be
done, that the North ought to do
more than it currently doing now in
the affairs of the country. You know
the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is
a socio-cultural group but in the
current situation now in this country,
we need more than a socio-cultural
group to address our challenge and
that is why we came with the
formation of the Northern Elders
Forum (NEF).
Our group believes that any
discussion that will not bring back
power to the North in 2015 is not in
the interest of the North and its
people,” the forum chairman who was
represented by Prof. Ango Abdullahi,
former vice chancellor of Ahmadu
Bello Univesrity (ABU) and founding
member of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) said. He said the elders
had constituted two committees to
examine the political future of the
North vis-à-vis power rotation issue as
it affected 2015 and the current
insecurity in the North, adding that the
elders were posed to tackle the
governors of the 19 northern states
over the issue.
“I was a founding member of PDP and
I do know that zoning of the
presidency between the North and
South was agreed but (former
president) Obasanjo came and
decided to deal with the North. We
knew then it will take a huge effort to
address this challenge but if we stand
firm and with dedication, the North
can stand again. The Northern Elders
Forum has no political party, no
candidate but our party is the people
of the North. We know where the
lapses are but we’re going to tackle
the governors of the northern states.
So join us in this fight,” he told
Governor Shettima.
The forum also berated the Federal
Government for the handling of the
insecurity in the North, saying “I
sensed lack of honesty and sincerity in
the approach to the Boko Haram
insurgency. “We sensed some of the
insecurity going on in the country is
particularly targeted at a particular
part of the country perhaps to weaken
its political relevance. The Boko Haram
crisis has been on for too long and
we have the feeling that some people
in power are just dragging it for
material or pecuniary reasons.
Just take a look at the security vote in
this year budget and you will
understand the background for our
feeling and curiosity. As we went
along, there is doubt to the sincerity
of the leaders in managing the crisis.
There is also the feeling of political
undertone with this vicious campaign
about 2015,” he stated.
Source: The Sun

North and this their "must rule"mentality.Shey its two tenures each,ehen,chill let the south south flex their turn.Why body dey scratch una.Go back to chad and niger or shut up and be ruled