The 19 Northern State Governors met in Kaduna on Monday, declaring that the #End-Bad-Governance protests in August were a wake-up call for all Northern leaders, raising concerns that youth restiveness is a growing concern, driven by illiteracy, poverty, and a lack of economic opportunities.
Chairman Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Yahaya, said: “Our young people are calling out for change, and it is our responsibility to listen and act. We must scale up efforts to tackle the root causes of youth restiveness by investing in education, skills development, and job creation. Let us focus on creating pathways for the youth to channel their energy into productive ventures, thereby reducing their vulnerability to crime and social vices.”
The Chairman, who spoke at the opening ceremony of a meeting of political leaders, traditional rulers from the North led by the Sultan of Sokoto and other critical stakeholders including the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa and other military officers to deliberate on issues affecting the region, lamented that the North-South disparity in economic inequality is even more pronounced in Northern Nigeria.
The meeting was part of the Northern States Governors’ Forum’s initiative to engage key stakeholders over pressing matters, including insecurity, poverty, the education crisis and other socio-economic challenges affecting the region.
According to the leader of the Northern Governors: “Our young people are calling out for change, and it is our responsibility to listen and act. We must scale up efforts to tackle the root causes of youth restiveness by investing in education, skills development, and job creation. Let us focus on creating pathways for the youth to channel their energy into productive ventures, thereby reducing their vulnerability to crime and social vices.
“The economic hardship faced by many Nigerians today is undeniable, and considering the North-South disparity in economic inequality, it is even more pronounced in northern Nigeria. This calls for urgent intervention. It is essential that we, as leaders, adopt measures to alleviate the suffering, such as targeted social welfare programs, support for small and medium enterprises, and policies that attract investment to our states. At the same time, we must work with the Federal Government to ensure that fiscal policies are sensitive to the realities of the day.”
Meanwhile, in the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the Northern leaders, among others, rejected the Tax Reform Bill that was forwarded to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to the communiqué read by Governor Yahaya, the leaders’ “forum acknowledges the recent gains made against criminals, especially the elimination of bandits and terror leaders. However, we resolved to sustain these gains in order to ensure lasting peace and stability in the sub-region. Forum commends the Federal Government and security agencies for their commitment in ensuring that our communities are safe and secure.
“Particularly we commend the untiring commitment of the Chief of Defence Staff General C. J Musa whose professionalism and innovative approach has made difference in security architecture of the Country at large. Nevertheless more need to be done to address pockets of challenges that abound in the Northern Region.”
Explaining their decision to reject the Tax Reforms Bill yesterday, however, the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, while reading the communique of the forum’s meeting said: “This is because companies remit VAT using location of their headquarters and tax office and not where the services and goods are consumed. In view of the foregoing, the forum unanimously rejects the proposed Tax Amendments and calls on members of National Assembly to oppose any bill that can jeopardise the well-being of our people.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Northern Governors’ Forum is not averse to any policies or programmes that will ensure the growth and development of the country. However, the forum calls for equity and farness in the implementation of all national policies and programmes so as to ensure that no geopolitical zone is short-changed or marginalised”, the group said.
The chairman further added that they must work with the federal government to ensure that fiscal policies are sensitive to the realities of the day.
“As we speak today, most of our Northern states are in darkness due to the vandalisation of electricity transmission infrastructure. This, not only underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure but also the need to build additional transmission lines and diversify our energy supply to better connect our region and improve our energy resilience.
Governors in attendance included: Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Dauda Lawal Dare (Zamfara), Abdullahi A. Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), and Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa). Deputy governors from other Northern states were also in attendance.
The meeting, which held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, also had in attendance notable traditional rulers, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III; Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garba Al- Amin El-Kanemi; Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli; Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Alhaji Ahmed Tijani Anaje; Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar; Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu; Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Sulaiman Adamu, among others.