The Board of Trustees of Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF), has observed that Northern youths are a time bomb ready to explode at any moment.
According to the ACF, the Northern governors have over the years refused to address the negative socio-economic situation youths from the zone are going through, thereby pushing most of the youths into criminality.
Speaking at the second meeting of the Board of Trustees in Kaduna yesterday, the chairman of the BoT, Ambassador Shehu Malami, noted that if urgent steps are not taken to address their plight, they would explode at any given moment.
To this end, he tasked Northern governors to industrialise the region, as well as establish financial institutions to facilitate employment and development.
The chairman also lamented the dwindling economic fortunes of the country, saying the negative effects of the nation’s economy are more pronounced in the north than in any part of the country.
He, however, blamed the bad economy on ineffective and inefficient monetary policies of the government which led to the current, “hyper-inflationary trends stiffing the economic and industrial growths and well-being of our people”.
On the state of security of the nation, Malami regretted that despite ACF’s concern to ensure the security of the people and the nation, saying, “Boko Haram insurgency, Fulani wanton killings and kidnappings, herders/farmers face-off, and other insurgent group masquerading as the Fulani, have come to pose more security challenges facing the government and citizens, particularly in the North”.
