Guardian

UNLESS the present insecurity pervading the North is resolved and the country’s political temperature stabilizes, the Arewa leaders and those politicians jostling to return the Presidency to the north may be engaged in an exercise in futility for 2015.

To find a way of managing the menace of insecurity, an elder statesman and onetime governor of defunct North Western State, Alhaji Usman Faruk, has invited former heads of state from the North, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and other northern leaders to a two-day meeting in Kano State to draw up recommendations for the Federal Government on how to end the current security menace in the North. The meeting is billed for January 15.

Faruk, 81, who chairs an organization, the Northern Development Focus Initiative (NDFI), means to proffer solution to the Boko Haram insurgency and other socio-economic challenges facing the region.

At a press conference in Kaduna, Faruk faulted the actions of Arewa leaders and other northern politicians for scouting for a presidential candidate from the North to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan knowing that he might decide to vie for the Presidency in 2015.

According to the retired Commissioner of Police, the Arewa leaders and politicians involved in the search for a replacement for Jonathan in the 2015 polls should rather think of how to bring stability to the North that has been riddled with insecurity and other social and economic vices.

Said Faruk: “I don’t share the view of these people converging to discuss the 2015 election and politics. Where is the country they want to govern? Is it the one bedeviled with insecurity? Where is the country that you are going to lead as President? We have to save the country first before you talk of running for the presidency.

“The most important thing for us all as Nigerians today is to secure the country before we talk of running for the presidency in 2015. The security of the nation is what everyone in Nigeria should be working for.

“Two years ago before the Arab uprising, I was in Cairo. I saw how the regime in Tunisia was overthrown. I saw how the Government in Egypt was overthrown. I am saying you can only think of being a president when you have a country in peace. These people should concentrate in solving the insecurity in the North first before they start talking of who should be the president in 2015.”

Faruk noted further that: “As far as I am concerned, anybody, no matter where he comes from, should be the president. Except the country is secured, then we can start talking of the politics of who should rule Nigeria. People seemed not to appreciate the magnitude of the insecurity in this country and that is why they are talking of who becomes the President in 2015.”

Faruk argued that, “I even had the opportunity to chair one of the probes on this problem of insecurity to see the weapons being used, and the techniques of the insurgents. Let me add that if you give the presidency to me I will even throw it away. You see, secure your country first before you think on how to preside over the goodies in the country.”

Lamenting the scourge of the insurgency in some parts of the North, Faruk said, “let me tell you, if the Boko Haram insurgency continues it then means that there will be no hope for anybody in 2015. I wonder how these people continue to talk or plan for the presidency when the country is on fire.”

Faruk cited examples of how government activities have almost come to a stand still in the states like Borno and Yobe hard hit by the activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

“Let me tell you, right now even some of the governors are on hot seat. They are not even holding their state executive council meetings in their respective states. They don’t meet in Maiduguri or Yobe; they move outside their states to hold the council meetings. What type of government do they think they are running? How do you call yourself a governor if the executive council meetings are no longer held within your state?

“It is so bad that there are reports that the affected governors no longer sleep in their states. The governor will show up in the morning and stay at work till 12 pm. But in the night he will relocate to 10 different places before the day breaks. What type of enjoyment do you have in that as a governor when there is no security in your state? The governors can verify this story.”

Besides, Faruk explained that his group, the NDFI has finalised arrangements to come out with the recommendations on how the government should resolve the current insurgency tearing the North apart. He said that all the stakeholders in the region, including past heads of state were expected to be part of the resolution at the meeting that would be held in Kano. According to him, “we are working out what we think should be the solution to the insecurity.”