A planned summit in Canada by the 19 Northern governors, under the umbrella of Northern Governors Forum, has come under heavy attack by stakeholders from the Northern stock.
The summit is scheduled to hold between August 1st to 2nd 2019.
In a statement on Monday, the National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party, (PRP), Malam Falalu Bello, described the proposed trip to Canada under the guise of a meeting to address issues relating to agriculture, the Economy and other inane excuses as a jamboree.
According to him, it is distressing that the North has been left in the firm grip of poverty, the principal fuel for the horrendous state of insecurity in the Region.
He added that as the unfortunate faces of biting Nigerian and African poverty, states of the North have been consigned to the unenviable status of undisputed core of Global Poverty.
He decried that, in spite of the negative indices, governors of the northern states planned to embark on a junket when the states they administered remained in a deep mess where education had been left untended.
“In these states it is in the public domain that agriculture and animal husbandry suffer at the hands of feckless politicians, where all the indices of economic anomie are glaring and publicly acknowledged. Yet, they have the gall to take of public funds and travel out of the continent, to presumably discuss such issues in the so-called Canadian summit,” he said.
The PRP national Chairman however maintained that a summit of Northern Governors in these times of insecurity, rancour on ranching, banditry and kidnapping is necessary, if properly and appropriately handled.
“Considering the spate of insecurity we face as a Nation, significant aspects of which are laid at the feet of herdsmen, it would be most appropriate for such a Summit to hold where practical attention will be drawn to practicable ranching solutions. A summit held at Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State would surely showcase how a Ranch in full bloom has already been established and proved to be a worthy venture, with recorded commercial value.
“Holding such a summit at Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi, or on the Mambilla Plateau of Adamawa/Taraba axis or even the Falgore Games Reserve of Kano will make a powerful statement.
“If the exceedingly cold climate of Canada was the attraction for this resource guzzling summit, the Obudu Ranch in Cross River State has all the extreme cold of a temperate climate they may need. Going to Obudu Cattle Ranch or Yankari Game Reserve will expose the viability and preparedness of these Governors and their States to solve their own and Nigeria’s problems, on this plane. Yet we have these politicians going to a Summit in Canada.
“We are of the view, in holding such Summit, or indeed any similar gathering of the high and mighty, we should cultivate the habit of arranging in-country affairs where the resources deployed will be of use to the economies of our own communities,” he added.
“We call on the Governors to quickly retrace their steps, to return to the path of rectitude and hold their summit locally. Obudu Ranch, Yankari Games Reserve, Falgore Games Reserve and Ririwai Minerals Village, the Mambilla Plateau or any of the States of the North or the South should be good enough for the summit.
“Such a summit will provide them time to critically address key factors compounding the deteriorated state of Nigeria, more particularly the North. It will avail them an opportunity to address other critical issues that may not necessarily have been placed on the table thus far, as a matter of urgency. Such include a holistic and educated position on education, in tune with the recent Presidential directive on free and compulsory education for the first nine years of schooling for all Nigerian children. This should properly tackle the recurring problem of the Almajiri system of education left to stagnate in the past. It is also an opportunity to engage relevant stakeholders in the communities where the brunt of these insecurity challenges are felt more,” he stated.
