By Lawal A. Dogara/Kaduna
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to 3 months to address the problem of insurgencies and general insecurity bedeviling the nation, or ready to forfeit his 2015 presidential ambition. The forum stated this in a press statement issued in Kaduna .
The statement signed by Barrister Solomon Dalung and Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed on behalf of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Monday, said in the light of its conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of the nation.
They strongly advised President Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October 2014.
“The circumstance under which our fellow citizens in and around Gwoza in Borno state in particular live and die will not be tolerated by any people who have a government and a leader sworn to defend them, and they must be reversed immediately.
“In the event that President Jonathan fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with the only conclusion that he has forfeited his right to ask for our mandate beyond 2015,” the statement said.
The form also expressed dismay while noting that the state of security and economic challenges of the north are deteriorating.
“It is no secret that the vast majority of northerners lament their maginalization, insecurity and poverty, and blame it in large part on the inability or unwillingness of its past and present leaders to utilize all access to power which they enjoyed to bring us redress and relief.
“The NEF joins millions of northerners in appealing to these leaders, General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammed Buhari, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Achitect Nnamadi Sambo and all retired Chief Justice of Nigeria from the north to raise their level of involvement in (the) fortunes of our region.
“If these leaders cannot visibly help to transform the fortunes of the north in the next few months, they will live northerners with the damaging impression that they have abandoned the region and the people to its seemingly irreversible decline and ultimate destruction,” they said.
Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the forum called on all leaders and political parties to demonstrate the highest levels of commitment to the rule of law and the demands of electoral process, saying “At all cost 2015 elections must be free and fair.”
