Former Senator from Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani at weekend canvassed what seemed a new proposition on the way forward in dealing with the myriads of problems confronting  the Northern part of the country and by extension, the the nation as a whole.

In a chat with Newsmen in Jos, the Plateau state capital on a visit, Sani called on leaders of the North to convoke a regional conference to examine the plethora of problems confronting the  region.

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 “Northern leaders and the people of the North need to set a conference of its own to look into the fault lines, to address its problems and challenges. The region must amend its house because the structure is staggering and is threatening the peace of the whole country,” he told newsmen at an interactive session in Jos, at the weekend.

“The immediate importance is that of peace, security and unity. The Northern part of Nigeria today is evidently disunited. Divisive forces are in control of the affairs of the state. People in the North are more polarized along religious and ethnic sentiments than have ever been in the history of our country. People are ready to kill and die in the name of religion and ethnicity and are not ready to die in the name of their own country.

“Political Leaders who are exploiting the sensibility and sensitivity of our people in order to re-enforce their political fortresses or stabilize their political thrust must be resisted. That is the fact, because our people are dying, our people are being killed every day, but we need to stand up and fight these divisive forces for the unity, peace and for the future of our country,” he  stated.

 The social critic also observed that “National unity is not all about coat of arms, is not all about National Flag, Green-white-Green, it’s also not about National Anthem, but is about peace, justice, equity, fairness and proportional representation.

 “If you alienate certain sections of Nigerians or marginalised them, you are only planting the seed of disharmony”, he said.

We make haste to align with Senator Sani’s proposition and add that it is imperative for the North to set up a structure to commence  regional dialogue without further delay.

For nearly a decade, the Northern region has been overwhelmed by insecurity arising from the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East. The problems have been worsened with the surfacing of other forms of insecurity including banditry in North West and parts of North Central, Farmers-Herders violent clashes in the North central, kidnapping, cattle rustling, drug abuse and other criminalities.

The recent violent attacks in Southern Kaduna, said to have claimed over 4oo lives in the last six months have further complicated matters and made such the proposed regional confab even the more compelling and urgent.

It is regrettable that in spite of all these challenges, the North has never really sat down to discuss the various dimensions and depth of these problems. At the very best, discussions have been limited to the level of Northern Governors Forum and Northern Traditional Rulers.

That the insecurity, criminalities,  disunity, mistrust, poverty and other problems have continued to be on the increase is a clear pointer to the failure of whatever prescriptions these groups have put forward over the years. 

It is painful to note that agriculture, which has been the pride of the North has been severely affected by the violence that has enveloped most parts of the region. Needless to add that commerce has taken back seat as the people struggle to hold body and soul together, after surviving the assaults of criminal elements.

From the foregoing therefore, we urge the Northern Governors Forum to work with  traditional rulers and other groups like the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Middle Belt Forum, Arewa Youth Groups, Scholars, the Business Community, retired military officers and  leaders of ethnic nationalities to immediately convoke the regional confab.

 We are in agreement with Senator Sani that the problems bedeviling the North at the moment are far more important than the 2023 elections, which appears to have preoccupied the minds of most leaders.

Indeed, the next general elections and all the political equations might be adversely affected if the  prevailing state of affairs is allowed to persist.

 We hold the view that what should be paramount to every leader in the Northern part of the country, should be  the security of people and the unity of purpose, peace and development other wise politics would never deliver the intended benefits to the people.