…“United we stand or we fall” – Atiku’s warns
Northern leaders yesterday converged in Kaduna for the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)’s 25th anniversary, using the occasion to push for a renewed development and security agenda for Northern Nigeria.
ACF Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Bashir Ɗalhatu, said the region must urgently embrace modern development models to reverse its backwardness. He stressed inclusive growth, youth empowerment and bridging inequality, while warning that the celebrations were taking place amid “dire security circumstances” across the North.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), said the anniversary theme: ‘Creative Economy: Engaging the Youth’, reflects the North’s need to harness youth innovation to address insecurity and development gaps.
A ministerial roundtable on: ‘Tourism for Security’, chaired by Minister Hannatu Musawa, explored how tourism and culture could support peace-building. Representatives of the National Security Adviser, Defence Headquarters and Yobe State Government also called for unity-driven strategies to grow the northern economy.
Delivering a keynote address, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar urged the North to rebuild its unity and return to its foundational priorities of education, agriculture and industry. He recalled efforts in 1999 to unite fragmented northern blocs into the ACF platform, and highlighted earlier initiatives such as the Northern Development Programme aimed at reviving schools, boosting agricultural productivity and supporting industries.
Atiku warned that mismanaged diversity, complacency and external manipulation continue to weaken the region, urging leaders to “brace-up” for the challenges of population growth, job creation, insecurity and economic stagnation.
He appealed to northern leaders to rise above ethnic and religious divisions: “If there is any time for the North to unite, it is now”.
Dignitaries at the event included former Minister Lai Mohammed, ex-Kaduna state governor, Ramalan Yero, and senior traditional and political leaders from across the region.
