Leaders of the Middle belt and southern groups in Nigeria
have called for the total restructuring of the country in order to correct some
abnormalities stunting the growth and unity of the country.
This is even as some delegates to the conference
were denied landing permit to grace the
occasion.
Chairman of the Middle-Belt Elders Forum, Air Commodore
Dan Suleiman (rtd), who disclosed this while speaking at the rally held at the
IBB Square in Makurdi on Monday, said leaders of the social cultural groups, South-South
Forum, Ohaneze-Ndigbo, Afenifere among others were left stranded at the airport
for five hours.
According to him, the leaders who were billed to
attend the conference in Makurdi converged on Abuja to board a flight but were
left stranded at the airport over
alleged refusal of their flight to land in Makurdi.
He said despite challenges confronting the region,
the Middle-Belt will remain united and continue to march forward to greatness.
Suleiman said there was need for Nigeria to be restructured to give way fair
sharing of resources, insisting that justice must be delivered to the people of
the region.
In his speech, Governor Darus Ishaku of Taraba State commended the National
Assembly for initiating a bill to establish state and local government police.
He called for accelerated attention and passage of
the bill which he said would go a long way to address the incessant killings in
the country .
"Killing people is another form of corruption
and the worst of it all. When one steals one million he is prosecuted but when
some people kill innocent people in their sleep they are allowed to walk
freely. This must stop. Nigeria is a great country but it is wasting away.
Every state in Nigeria is a potential country of its own," he stated.
In his address, the Benue State Governor, Samuel
Ortom, said the leadership of Miyetti Allah was still moving freely after
calling for their arrest at several occasions.
He reiterated the call for the arrest of the
leadership of the association for being behind the killings in the state.
The governor said before they group commenced the killing of innocent people in
the state, they threatened that if the
state anti-open grazing and ranching law
was not repealed, they will unleash terror on the Benue people.
"They had done that several times and killed
scores of people. If they are not arrested, we cannot rest nor stop crying. “We
have decided and taken them to court as law abiding people," Ortom said.
He said ranching is the solution to the crises of
herdsmen and grazing but added that it should not be a government business but
for those who want to venture into it.
The governor said the minority groups in the
country should not be taken for granted.
While adding that every Nigerian must be protected,
“both the majority and minority nationalities need each other for survival, the
minority groups in the country should not be taken for granted because they too
are key stakeholders in the Nigerian project."
Also speaking, Senator Barnabas Gemade enjoined all nationalities in the Middle
belt to stand their guard and work together as a people of same culture, race
irrespective of their language
Professor Alloy Ihuah said Nigerian leaders have refused to learn from the past
mistakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment