Youths ask IBB, Abdulsalam, Atiku, others to apologise

Arewa Youths Forum,AYF, yesterday, demanded an apology from all their leaders who have ruled the country at one time or the other for neglecting the region while they were in power.

This was the outcome of an emergency meeting in Kaduna, which was attended by Muslim and Christian youths as well as those in the diaspora.

A statement signed by its Chairman, Gambo Gajonju, said: “The meeting extensively discussed the various circumstances the North has found itself, and recent much noise about positions of past Nigerian leaders from the North, i.e. Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Atiku Abubakar, and several others regarding the avoidable quagmire our region is shamelessly trapped into.

“We are at the bottom of every index ranging from health, education, social amenities, and several other sectors. Worst of our woes is the insecurity ravaging the North. It is against this background that we made the following position.

“That all Northern leaders who held several positions, i.e. Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubakar, and others who have got golden opportunities of turning our region for good but did not should know and accept much of the blame.

“Northerners and the world need explanation as to what led the North to the rot it is today. It was not magic but man-made as a result of deliberate manipulation of religion, self-enrichment and pervasive corruption our leaders adopted to the detriment of the larger peoples of the North.

“Finally, all past and present leaders of Northern extraction should as a matter of morality and sincerity apologise to the North first. Because we got to the mess we are in due to their insensitivity, and approach to governance, which was contrary to the principles of our leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello.

According to the statement, “What the North, Nigeria at large need is not noise or elite gathering, and eating from woes of the region. What we need is practicable good governance on the basis of unity, justice, equity, oneness and togetherness”.

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IBB, Abubakar, Atiku, others in secret meeting

Elders from the North yesterday held a closed-door meeting at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, to deliberate on the state of the nation.

Although no communiqué was issued, Sunday Sun learnt that they met to strategise on how to get back power in 2015.

The state of insecurity in the country occasioned by the activities of the Islamist fundamentalist sect, Boko, was also said to be on the agenda of the meeting.

The leaders however kept mum and refused to disclose what was discussed.

The meeting convened at the instance of the Arewa Citizens Action for Change (ACAC) had in attendance two former Heads of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was also at the meeting as well as Maitama Sule, Adamu Ciroma, Justice Mamman Nasir, former Inspector General of Police, Gambo Jimeta, Professor Ango Abdullahi, and a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Al-Amin Daggash, among others.

The meeting, which was scheduled for Friday at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, was shifted to Saturday due to a Boko Haram attack in Kano, which prevented the airlifting of the stakeholders to Abuja.

The meeting commenced at 10am, with an opening remark by elder statesman, Maitama Sule, before the group went into a closed-door session that lasted for four hours.

Sule reportedly enjoined the gathering to allow Arewa to come together.

General Babangida, who wore a brown agbada, was the first to emerge from the meeting but declined comments. He referred journalists to Professor Ango Abdullahi, whom he said would brief the press.

He was followed by General Abubakar, who wore a green agbada. He also did not make any comments as he maintained his usual self-effacing posture.

Like the others before him, former Vice President Abubakar, when he emerged, also refused to disclose what was discussed. But his presence gave the gathering the atmosphere of a strategic meeting for the battle for the 2015 presidency.

Professor Abdullahi’s comments that the essence of the meeting could not be disclosed also lent credence that the group might have dwelt extensively on the highest political office in the country.

Briefing journalists, Abdullahi, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said the meeting was chaired by Justice Mamman Nasir, a former President of the Court of Appeal.

“Concerning the crux of the meeting, perhaps, you will be disappointed that we are not giving you a formal, printed communiqué, which is usual after such meetings. But we thought that it is polite enough for us to give you the gist of the background to this meeting.

“Briefly, the elders you saw this morning, sitting in this room, discussed the general state of the nation in terms of its progress, in terms of peace, in terms of its insecurity. I think this is the main gist of it.”

Speaking further, Abdullahi said: “So, the main message is, what can we do to bring about greater unity and peace in this country so that this county can surely move forward? This is the gist of this entire meeting today.

“Of course, in the course of discussions, we looked at other aspects of the state of the nation and in this kind of short meeting, it is unlikely as you would expect for us to deal exhaustively with any item.

“So, what the meeting decided was to set up sub-committees that will examine the various aspects that came before us for discussion and bring forward as soon as possible; of course, within the next two, three weeks, their various reports in details, and we are expecting that this should happen by the end of this month.”

While stating that the next meeting will be more detailed with facts and figures that will be made available by the various sub-committees, Abdullahi stated that the first sub-committee will be chaired by Daggash while the second will be chaired by Senator John Wash Pam.

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