The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has expressed concern over the increasing rate of violence in the northern region.
The forum’s chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, disclosed his concerns when he led a delegation to Maiduguri, to meet the Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, following the recent killings of rice farmers in Zabarmari area of the state.
A statement issued by ACF National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, noted that the security situation was depressing.
It said the ACF delegation was in Borno to empathise with the people and the state government over Boko Haram’s serial killings, especially the most recent, which was the beheading of over 43 farmers of Zabarmari community in Jere Local Government Area.
Ogbeh, the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Zulum that the deteriorating security in northern Nigeria was depressing, saying that the elites in the region now have nothing to leave behind as legacies for the future generation.
Mr. Ogbeh noted that the tragedy of the North today is that the only industry left is politics, pointing out that politics alone has never grown any society.
He stressed the need to re-grow Borno State, the north and Nigeria as a whole, lamenting that the North has no industries, while agriculture has declined and their own children have now turned to violence as a means of livelihood.
ACF noted that they have decided not to talk too much politics, but decided to focus on something else, which is to start a program of developing small-scale agro-industries across the northern region.
The forum, however, condemned the attack on innocent farmers earning their legitimate means of livelihood around Zabarmari, describing it as barbaric and inhumane.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the forum, Amb Shehu Malami, prayed for the restoration of peace in Borno and northern Nigeria.
Other members of the delegation include Alhaji Ibrahim Sule, Alhaji Murtala Aliyu, Alh. Baba Sule Bisala and Alhaji Kabiru Ladan.
