Niger State Governor and chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, has assured that he would work with his other colleagues to tackle the security challenges in their respective states, stressing that aside the proposed amnesty, the government should also explore other avenues that would bring the situation under control.
Aliyu, disclosed this while speaking, yesterday, at the 24th Forum of the Speakers of the Northern States Houses of Assembly.
He noted that there might have been international dimension to the Boko Haram insurgency. He stressed that though the proposed amnesty was a good move, yet not an ultimate solution to the ongoing Northern crisis.
The Governor explained that there was the need to explore other avenues, including the enactment of laws that will enable people contribute to their communities to engender lasting peace , harmony and security in the country.
“We should not wait for the Federal Government to start the process of making peace with Boko Haram. We must stop the blame game of saying `it is Abuja that should end the insurgency, because Abuja is only supposed to complement the efforts of the state governments while the actual decision and the mobilisation of the people rest with the state Governors”, he said.
Aliyu, while praising the president for the establishment of the amnesty committee on Boko Haram, urged Nigerians to support Jonathan to succeed in his effort towards finding proffering solution to the insecurity confronting the nation.
The Governor told the Speakers that “As Nigerians of northern extraction, you should articulate and aggregate the needs of your people which should form the basis of negotiation with the polity of Nigeria. You should also have a strong position in the negotiation process because this culture, once established, will reduce the pressures being mounted on the leadership particularly at the centre”.
“I therefore urge you and your Forum to go back to the grassroots to forge more enduring relationships with the people to understand their needs and aspirations.
We need such liaison and interface to bring the people and the government together to check the mounting insecurity in the North and other parts of the country,” Aliyu stated .
Earlier, the acting Chairman, Northern Speakers Forum, Hon. Aminu Musa Habib, commended Aliyu for creating a peaceful atmosphere for harmonious and cordial working relationship between the three arms of government in Niger State.
According to him, “this is what it should be if our democratic ideals should be allowed to survive and grow like other developed democracies in the world”.
Habib noted that the Forum was established with the sole aim of advancing legislative views about democratic governance in Nigeria, with special attention on the interests of the North.
Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representativs from Plateau State, Mr. Bitrus said the rejection of amnesty by Boko Haram ridicules the Federal Government.
The Federal Government had set up a committee to advise it on the desirability or otherwise of amnesty for the Islamist group which the leadership rejected, saying it was government and not it that needed amnesty.
The Federal Government’s action came on the heels of the calls for amnesty for Boko Haram by some eminent Nigerians, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, to end the group’s campaign in the North.
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