Chairman, Northern Governors Forum, NGF, Governor Babangida Aliyu has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to declare total war on Islamic fundamentalists group, Boko Haram. The Niger State Governor spoke at the inauguration of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation Office building in Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna State.
Aliyu said the sect have “declared war against their country and have acquired illegal territories (and) we must therefore crush them.” He admitted Boko Harm, insecurity, abject poverty, among other things have the nation’s woes complicated, Aliyu urged cooperation among leaders in spite of political party differences.
Aliyu said: “We must as leaders all come together on bipartisan or non-partisan basis to encourage Mr. President and the Federal Government to declare total war and eliminate Boko Haram in our midst before the 2015 elections.
“Boko Haram is no more terrorists as it affects all of us. It not the issue of APC or PDP, we need to put our heads together.” The governor said Nigerian members of the group have lost their nationality right by declaring arms against the state.
On Northern economy, Aliyu stressed diversification of the region’s economy base against over-reliance on oil.
“We also need to come to terms with the reality that the nation cannot depend on the oil economy; we must continue to diversify into agriculture and solid minerals,” he said.
Aliyu reiterated his call for state police as a way of strengthening and preserving local security.
“We must also pursue the issue of state police so that we can have a stronger and rational say in the security of our states and account for our actions and inactions”. The governor said.
He explained that region’s problems began with the killing of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. Aliyu commended his colleagues in the northern governors forum, the foundation’s trustees, and urged them to emulate the late Sardauna.
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