The Southern Kaduna Peoples union, SOKAPU, has declared that the region was faced with a threat to wipe it from the surface of the earth.
Speaking on Saturday at SOKAPU Youth Wing Congress in Kachia, SOKAPU National President, Barrister Solomon Kura, stressed that the incessant attacks was a calculated attempt to wipe the people of the area away.
“There are people who have already made up their mind to change the ratio of Southern Kaduna.
“When we came on board, we saw government as partners with whom we can dialogue and address most of the insecurity challenges we are facing, particularly in Souhern Kafuna, but all channels used to meet with government proved abortive.
On his part, Mr.Rijo Shekari, a chartered accountant, disclosed that Southern Kaduna was going through trying times, adding, “Never in our history have we been bedeviled with the current level of insecurity, poverty, and desolation in our communities.
“We have a leadership crisis in our hands, where our leaders have been unable to effectively speak on the issues that affect us. How did we get here? By not being involved politically and economically, that is why we are here today.
“For how long shall we continue in our sleep and slumber and pretend that all is well? I do not know about you, but I have been awakened by the dangers that surround us; the danger of losing our ancestral lands to foreigners; the danger of hunger and starvation because our people are terrified to go to their farms. The danger that we will wake up one day only to discover that the rest of the world has advanced and left us behind.
“Isn’t it a shame that the entire region of Southern Kaduna cannot boast of a single functional factory? We are one of the most educated regions in the country, yet we have nothing to show for it.
“All we do is speak grammar on social media and at night go to bed disgruntled, frustrated, and broke. That has to change. We must restore the pride and dignity of Southern Kaduna and that starts this year with the forthcoming local Government elections.
“Gone are the days of sharing rice and wrappers every four years, only to be forgotten and our mandates bastardized.
“Not until we have factories to employ our youths, and community libraries to keep our children busy and broaden their horizons. Not until we can process our own agricultural produce and mine our numerous natural resources, we haven’t really started.
“We must go beyond pointing fingers at the government and blaming them for our woes; we must go beyond whining and complaining that we have been marginalized.
“We must get to a point we can build our own roads, provide our own water, start up our own businesses and employ our brothers and sisters. We cannot rely on the government all the time to better our lives,” he noted.
On her part, a human activist, Ndi Kato, observed that one of the greatest challenges Southern Kaduna was facing was lack of unity, stressing that without unity the people cannot forge ahead.
“We have lived under the mental suppression of mediocrity painted as contentment; made to believe that what we are doing is enough, that we should not aim so high,” Ndi disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Youths in their different submissions rejected the creation of grazing reserves, alleging that the present administration had failed woefully to protect their lives and properties.
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