AFTER 9 DAYS… Northern Leaders Kick Over Power Outage
The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and traditional rulers have called for urgent intervention in addressing the current power outage in some northern states.
At a joint meeting in Kaduna yesterday, they noted that the nine days of darkness in most states of the North had caused many economic losses and untold hardship.
According to them, economic hardship is more pronounced in the North than in other parts of the country.
The Northern leaders also said the North-South disparity and economic inequality must be addressed to alleviate the people’s suffering, including the ravaging insecurity and power outage mainly affecting the northern region.
The meeting was part of NSGF’s efforts to engage with key stakeholders and address pressing concerns, especially the lingering insecurity, poverty, out-of-school children, blackout and other socio-economic challenges ravaging the region.
In his remarks, the chairman of the NSGF and Gombe State governor, Inuwa Yahaya, said the region’s collective resolve was being tested by the ongoing challenges faced by the people.
Inuwa listed the region’s challenges as terrorism, banditry, kidnap-for-ransom, farmer-herder clashes, drug abuse, the menace of Almajiri and out-of-school children, poverty and unemployment.
“As we speak today, most of our Northern States are in darkness due to vandalisation of electricity transmission infrastructure. This underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the need to build additional transmission lines and diversify our energy supply to connect our region better and improve our energy resilience,” he said.
He said the recent “End Bad Governance” protest was a wake-up call for all northern leaders, adding that youth restiveness was a growing concern, driven by illiteracy, poverty, and lack of economic opportunities.
He acknowledged the recent gains made against criminals, especially the elimination of bandits and terror leaders by the military.
“However, we cannot afford complacency. We must sustain these gains to ensure lasting peace and stability. We recently received the report of the Coalition of Northern Group’s Security Committee, and we will study and implement their recommendations carefully. Our engagements with security agencies and civil society groups must continue to chart a sustainable path for peace and stability in northern Nigeria,” he added.
The Northern states’ governors also rejected the Tax Reform Bill recently sent to the National Assembly, saying its content was against the interest of the North and other subnationals.
“Given the preceding, the Forum unanimously rejects the proposed Tax Amendments and calls on members of the National Assembly to oppose any bill that can jeopardise the well-being of our people,” they said.
For his part, the Sultan of Sokoto and chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said the problem of the North was not lack of solutions or ideas but their effective implementation.
“All Northerners should come together to develop the North. We never lack reports to implement to solve our problems; what we lack is the implementation of such reports. We, the traditional rulers, assure you we are with you on this journey to develop the North. We will not look back, ” he said.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Musa, who also addressed the meeting, said the Armed Forces were working tirelessly to address the insecurity confronting the North and other parts of the country.
General Musa, however, commended the northern governors and traditional rulers for their support and cooperation in solving the security challenges.
The attendees include governors of Kaduna, Gombe, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Borno, Bauchi, Kwara, and Adamawa states and deputy governors from other northern states.
Others are the Sultan of Sokoto, Shehu of Borno, Umar El-Kanemi; Emir of Zazzau, Nuhu Bamali; Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Etsu Nupe; Yahaya Abubakar; Emir of Kazaure; and Emir of Bauchi, among other traditional Rulers from the North.
