INSECURITY, climate change and the growing Almajiri and out-of-school children crisis dominated discussions on Monday as the Northern Governors and traditional rulers opened a crucial joint meeting in Kaduna.
The Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, who delivered the keynote address at the event held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, said the region was facing an “existential threat” fuelled by terrorism, extreme poverty, environmental degradation and worsening social vulnerabilities.
Yahaya said the recent abductions of schoolchildren in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Kano, Niger and Sokoto states as well as renewed Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe, had again exposed the fragility of security in the region.
He, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for the prompt rescue of some victims but insisted that education must never be surrendered to terrorists.
“An attack on education is a direct assault on our future. Terrorists target our schools and farms because they want to cripple the tools that empower our youths.
“We must work with the Federal Government, security agencies and international partners to secure our children and protect livelihoods,” Yahaya said.
The governor warned that insecurity had grown beyond local banditry to a national emergency threatening the survival of the North and Nigeria.
“This menace spares no one – the poor and the rich, Muslims and Christians, the young and the old. Without peace and security, there will be no politics to play and no state to govern,” he added.
Yahaya linked the region’s growing instability to “deep seated underdevelopment, illiteracy, lack of opportunities and the intensifying effects of climate change.
These, he said, were fuelling conflicts over land, water and other dwindling resources. Yahaya said this informed the decision to place the Almajiri and out-of-school children crisis at the top of the forum’s agenda.
“The reality of millions of Northern children roaming the streets instead of being in classrooms is unacceptable and a stain on our conscience. We must move beyond rhetoric and take coordinated actions to put every child in school,” the governor said.
The NSGF Chairman reiterated the forum’s firm support for the introduction of state policing, describing it as a critical tool for addressing widespread insecurity.
He welcomed Tinubu’s recent directive to the National Assembly to create the necessary constitutional framework, urging the lawmakers to give the reform top priority.
Yahaya said sustainable peace would require cooperation among political, religious and traditional leaders, stressing that traditional rulers must continue to act as stabilisers, while religious leaders must promote tolerance.
Earlier, Gov. Uba Sani, who hosted the meeting, urged the participants to recommit to rebuilding a stable and economically vibrant North.
He stated that the current centralised policing structure could no longer protect a country of over 230 million citizens and vast ungoverned spaces.
“We must reclaim the narrative of the North from those who trade in fear. Our people deserve stability, opportunity and hope,” he said.
Also speaking on behalf of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, expressed full support for the governors’ position, saying traditional rulers stood “100 per cent behind” the push for peace and unity in the region.
He urged the governors to work harder, listen to constructive criticisms and sustain inter state cooperation, adding that there was “only one North,” and all leaders must act with a common voice.
“We have no other place to call home. Whatever it takes to bring peace and stability to the North and Nigeria, we will do it,” Abubukar said.
The meeting is expected to go into a closed session to deliberate on security reforms, climate adaptation strategies, education initiatives, and the operationalisation of state policing. (NAN)
