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General News of Saturday, 27 March 2021

Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

Northern elders blame selves for insecurity

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Northern elders under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development (CONEPD) have blamed the festering insecurity mostly in the North East and North West geopolitical zones on some leaders and elders of the region.

According to the group, some Northern leaders saw the danger in the beginning of the crisis but refused to tell the truth.

The group said attachment of religious and regional considerations in dealing with the crisis was the cause of the lack of progress in the war against insecurity, adding that the sentiments led to the bad advice given to President Muhammadu Buhari against picking security chiefs outside the North.

The group’s National Coordinator, Goni Zana, an engineer, said in a statement that the deception weakened the zeal with which the war against terrorists was being waged by most handlers of the crisis, which has emboldened the scourge.

According to him, the appointments of service chiefs have never been based on competence or professionalism, but on sheer sentiments and ethnic consideration. 

Zana called on the President to henceforth stop adhering to advice from people of ‘narrow interest’ but to take only decisions that are pro-Nigeria with a view to correcting the many ills of his administration towards a better country.

“As difficult as it is in speaking the truth, we feel constrained to admit that our quick resort to religious, ethnic and regional considerations led us to advise the president in wrong directions,” the statement noted.

The group said the war against insecurity could have been a thing of the past if the north had made good and informed decisions.

“Many lives and property have been lost and destroyed. Frontline troops are falling every day to a determined group of insurgents and bandits but our decision to remain quiet and not say the truth as things were happening, led us to this present situation."