The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Niger State Chapter, has held a one-day community engagement to search for enduring solutions to the problems bedevilling the northern region and Nigeria as a whole, against the backdrop of the prevailing socio-economic and political challenges confronting the region and the country.

This situation follows the dearth of genuine leaders and selfless nationalists with rich ideas and altruistic ideals who were always prepared to nurture the younger generation into adulthood from relatively young ages.

This is unlike the pre-independence and post-independence eras in Nigeria, which produced leaders such as the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and the sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory.

Addressing the participants at the stakeholders’ meeting held on Saturday, 9th November 2024, at the Banquet Hall of Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna, the CNG National Coordinator, Dr. Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, observed that the present crop of leaders in the North had betrayed the past leaders like Sir Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and Aminu Kano, saying, “We no longer have leaders but politicians in the North, and indeed in the entire nation as a whole.”

He said the gathering at the event was a sign of the CNG’s commitment to unveiling and leading a robust societal value reorientation, devoid of blame, acrimony, and finger-pointing, in an attempt to build bridges and synergies within the North. He highlighted that everyone has a role to play in providing lasting and enduring solutions to the prevailing problems of Northern Nigeria.

He pointed out that only through collective action can the North get out of the quagmire it has found itself in, adding that community participation is the cornerstone for effective governance and societal development, stressing that this can only be achieved through unity of purpose.

Dr Jamilu Charanchi further explained that it is enough with the lamentations and it is time for action, but emphasised that, “We can only get it right when we get the recruitment process of leadership right because the present crop of leaders has deviated from the essence of leadership and they are only interested in working towards the renewal of their tenure in office, not in the general interest of the people.”

Earlier, in his welcome remarks, the Niger State coordinator of CNG, Comrade Abdullahi Musa Erena, said there was an urgent need to address the socio-economic challenges facing the region, most especially Niger State.

He said the region is confronted with numerous challenges, ranging from economic inequality, insecurity, lack of education, lack of adequate healthcare, and infrastructural deficits, arguing that CNG firmly believes that community-driven solutions are key to overcoming these obstacles, hence the community engagement programme.

Furthermore, there were valuable contributions on how to better the lot of the Northern region from other participants who were drawn from faith-based organisations, various security agencies, youth and women’s groups, tribal groups, student unions in tertiary institutions, as well as the traditional institution, among others.

Also, in a separate remark, Prof. Muhammad Bashar Nuhu Tachi of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, who was the keynote speaker at the event, stated in his presentation with the theme, “Imperative of Popular Participation in Tackling Socio-Economic Challenges Bedevilling Northern Nigeria Through Community-Driven Solutions,” that Northerners were the architects of their own problems.

He observed that there has never been any challenge from the Northerners for the betterment of the region, and there was no opportunity they have not gotten in the past and even presently.

Prof. Bashar Nuhu said that after X-raying and evaluating the issues, they cannot think otherwise but concur with the position of CNG that there is a need to go back to the community level for each and every member of the community to have an action-driven pact.

He noted that a lot of things have gone wrong, and every member of a community has a lot to contribute to changing the narrative of what the North has found itself in today.

“A lot of things need everybody’s efforts to overturn them. We need to be our brother’s keeper within the neighbourhood; we need to really extend our hands of fellowship to everyone within the community. We need to change the perspective of isolation and living without care for another person within the community,” he stressed.

He believed that community members know the problems within their community and also the solutions therein, adding that we must work as a team within the community to solve security issues and poverty issues, develop skills, and encourage the young ones within the community to pursue livelihoods.

Prof. Bashar Nuhu also underscored the importance of education in finding lasting solutions to the numerous problems bedevilling the northern Nigeria region and stressed the need to invest heavily in both formal and informal education.

He further revealed that a lot of educational systems have collapsed in Northern Nigeria and that insecurity has added a serious dimension to the problems that exist in the North, saying we cannot solve the problem of insecurity without community participation because communities know their members and everyone who resides within the community.

He equally stressed the need to empower the community members and give them a role to play, expressing optimism that if this is done, the problems will be a thing of the past and it will stand the taste of time with the desired result.

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