Boko Haram faceless because of arrest —ACF

THE chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Aliko Muhmmad, has lamented the current security situation in the country, saying Boko Haram has remained faceless largely because “governments have not put any mechanism on ground to assure the sects that they would not be arrested and dealt with by security agencies.”
Alhaji Muhammad made the assertion on Friday, when members of the ACF paid a courtesy visit to the Kano State governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
He stressed that the position of the ACF and many other Nigerians in favour of dialogue with the sect, “does not vitiate the standard campaigns against terrorism.”
ACF’s position, he reiterated, was informed by the fact of history that no hard power or military has ever succeeded in bringing terrorism under control anywhere in the world.
Meanwhile, Governor Kwankwaso has contended that the current federal budget is tilted in favour of a particular section of the country, cautioning that this would not augur well for peace and steady national development.
He argued that a lot of the challenges currently facing the country today had to do with resources that are not evenly distributed among all sections of the country, lamenting that even appointments and political patronage were not as balanced as they should be.
The governor’s position was contained in a statement signed by his Director of Press, Alhaji Halilu Dantiye, a copy of which was made available to Sunday Tribune on Friday.
His words: “A situation whereby the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is working for a particular region, a ministry entirely dedicated to serve a particular region and so many resources invested in the SURE-P project and directed towards a particular part of the country is not in the best interest of all Nigerians.”
The governor asserted that he has consistently raised his voice on the onshore-offshore debate, and lately, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), so that justice would be done by making sure that those parts of the country that have enough are not given priority over the deprived ones.
He advised federal legislators from Northern Nigeria to strive to ensure that justice and fairness prevailed in the polity in respect of the PIB, which is currently before the House of Representatives, as well as other issues, in order to overcome the challenges facing the country.
The Federal Government, he added, must also work assiduously to ensure impartiality among all sections of the country.
On the security problem in parts of Northern Nigeria, Governor Kwankwaso blamed poverty and collapse in family/societal values among others, pointing out that governments and other stakeholders in the region have to do more collectively to address the crisis, so that peace and progress do not continue to elude the region.