The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has accused leaders in Nigeria’s southern regions of ganging up against the North, lamenting that the situation has instilled fear in northerners, especially Fulani residing in different parts of the country.
In a statement yesterday, NEF Director of Publicity and Advocacy Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed claimed that South-East leaders now blackmail the federal government with calls for secession.
Regarding the South West, Baba-Ahmed, who contended that the leaders of the region had emboldened ‘ethnic bullies’ to force the federal government to do their bidding, said that ‘the North will not be cowed and stampeded into escorting political ambitions of politicians at the cost of its rights, security, and dignity.’
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The NEF statement reads:
‘The Forum has held back on joining issues with persons and groups intent on provoking the type of crises that will escalate beyond control or mitigation by leaders who are collectively showing definite signs that they unwilling to steer the country away from the dangerous threats which are crippling it.
‘It is now clear that elected people sworn to protect the constitution and protect the unity and integrity of Nigeria have decided to surrender to deeply divisive or outrightly irredentist and secessionist tendencies and movements.
‘In the South East, governors are yielding their political turf and mandates to secessionists, criminals and subversives who think they can exterminate federal presence and northerners from the region, and achieve dubious political goals related to 2023, or break away from the country.
‘In the South West, elected leaders and pampered ethnic bullies are closing ranks to provide a front that apes the do-what-we-want-or-we-leave-the-country strategy of the marginalized leaders of the South East.
‘Governors are building ethnic monsters and hiding behind them to whip up sentiments in a crude attempt to extract concessions no one is in a position to give or guarantee.
‘The South-South is squeezed between fear and uncertainty, and its leaders are gambling that they can benefit from further weakening the federal administration and the North if it rides along with the rest of the South.
‘A plastic unity is being contrived to create the impression that the entire South is united behind shared grievances against the Presidency and Fulani herders and all northerners who are cast as fair game in responding to all of President Buhari’s multiple failures.
‘A desperate but futile attempt is being made to split the North along lines that suit people who ignore its complexities and plurality when it is convenient to lump all Northerners and submit them to humiliation or attacks.
‘The NEF recognises that most of these provocations feed from the widespread perception of a weak national leadership and a broken political process that has become captive of narrow political interests.
‘For the record, the Forum restates its support for a programmed transition that will eliminate open grazing and the establishment of productive, safe and sustainable options in managing our huge national asset in animal husbandry.
‘This cannot be achieved with threats and harassment, but with commitment and collaboration involving all governments and stakeholders.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK