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Youths abort northern governors' meeting

Posted by By Segun Olatunji on 2006/07/21 | Views: 587 |

Youths abort northern governors' meeting


Northern governors on Thursday called off a meeting scheduled to hold at the Kaduna State Government House, Kawo, Kaduna.....

Northern governors on Thursday called off a meeting scheduled to hold at the Kaduna State Government House, Kawo, Kaduna.

This followed a protest by youths at the venue of the meeting.

They demanded that the North should concede the 2007 presidency to the South-South.

The meeting was the second to be cancelled in less than one week by the northern governors who were to meet under the aegis of the Northern Governors‘ Forum.

The NGF meeting originally scheduled for July 13 was cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday.

The Northern governors, who were already in Kaduna for the meeting but were stopped from going to the venue, included the host, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi; and the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Saminu Turaki.

Efforts to speak with Makarfi's spokesman, Alhaji Muktar Sirajo, did not yield results.

Sirajo did not take calls to his mobile phone.

The meeting was to enable the governors endorse a consensus presidential candidate from the region.

"Unfavourable security reports," our correspondent gathered, forced the governors, many of whom had already arrived in Kaduna for the rescheduled meeting, to quickly call for its postponement.

Security sources told our correspondent that the governors were not willing to risk what could be the outcome of the confrontation between the youths and riot policemen deployed in the venue of the meeting.

They therefore rescheduled it for next month.

Leaders of one of the protesting groups, the Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice, told newsmen that the Northern governors‘ insistence on power shift was a misplaced priority.

The group argued that the focus of every Nigerian at this point in time should be how the nation could get a good presidential candidate to lead the people out of the woods.

The Secretary General of the group, Malam Umar Farouk, told newsmen that the best way to safeguard the interest of the North was for the region to allow power to shift to either the South-South or the South-East.

Farouk said the purpose of the protest at the venue of the meeting was to drum it into the ears of the governors that the younger generation of northerners did not agree with the injustice being meted out to the other parts of the country by their region with regard to the sharing of political power.

Farouk said, "We are not supporting any northern candidate for 2007 presidency.

"We believe there should be fairness, equity and justice since we all belong to one country.

"We (the North) have tasted power for so long, we should let it go round.

"There are credible presidential aspirants from the North.

"But in this matter, our position is that let us think of Nigeria first.

"Let‘s not be talking of one person or region. We organised to abort the governors‘ meeting.

"We are tired of the resolutions coming at the end of each NGF meeting that power should rotate to the North in 2007.

"The north, as an entity, does not deserve to have the presidency now.

"The best way to sustain national or northern unity is to allow power to go to either the South-South or South-East zones which have not had power in the last 40 years.

"We made adequate arrangements to stop the meeting.

"But they invited the police to take over the place.

"We are waiting for them and we will mobilise more people to confront them whenever the meeting holds.

"Most of the northerners who are now angling for the presidency have had their share in the Nigerian project.

"We cannot continue to recycle leaders.

"In fact, power should remain in the South until young ones who will take over from these our so-called leaders grow up, probably in 2011.

"We don‘t believe in the Peoples Democratic Party arrangement on zoning."

Some of the placards carried by the group read, "Let those who have something to offer take power in 2007; let us de-emphasise sentiments; Nigeria does not belong to the North alone; the Nigeria of our dream is rooted in our ability to accommodate others; and northern youths support level playing ground."

The NGF‘s Coordinating Secretary and the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs, Kaduna State, Alhaji Saidu Kakangi, however, told newsmen that the meeting was shelved following "a directive from above."

Kakangi, who declined to give further explanation, said, "We got directive from above.

"I don‘t know the reason for the sudden change.

"The new date is second and third of August.

"The governors in town now did not come for the meeting."

It was further learnt that apart from the protest by the youth, the meeting was also cancelled because of the clash of interests amongst the governors.

At their last meeting, it was rumoured that some of the governors openly accused one another of betraying the North.

Our correspondent also gathered that that the presidential ambition of some of the governors and their political alignment, as well as the zoning of the 2007 presidency to the North, were part of the issues they were yet to agree on.

The cancelled meeting, which was to be presided over by the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Adamu, was also expected to discuss the report of the traditional rulers conference and other issues related to the 2007 general elections.

At least five Northern governors are reported to be nursing presidential ambitions in 2007.

They include Adamu; the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi; his Zamfara State counterpart, Alhaji Ahmed Sani; Jigawa State Governor, Saminu Turaki; and the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Adamu Mua‘zu.

There are also others who currently support other presidential aspirants, including Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida.

However, the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Sa‘ad Yahaya, told newsmen that there was nothing unusual about the stern looking riot policemen positioned at the venue of the meeting.

Sa‘ad, a deputy superintendent of police, said, "You mean police to stop governors‘ meeting? There was nothing like that.

"Our presence there was to provide security, which is normal.

'We always go there to provide security for the governors anytime they are meeting.

"We are not even aware that the meeting did not hold."

Also on Thursday in Kaduna, the leader of the Socialist Front, Malam Shehu Sani, chided the governors of the 19 northern states for their insistence on power shift to the North in 2007.

Sani said the northern governors should rather support the aspiration of the South-South.

He said this was in the interest of national unity and development.

Sani argued that the failure of the northern governors to hold their regular meeting and select a consensus candidate was a clear signal of division in their rank.

Sani said, "Nigerians will not tolerate any attempt by the governors to use the forum to support the coming of a former military dictator for the 2007 Presidency.

"The North has no clear agenda on what they want to achieve with power for Nigerians if the presidency should go to the North."

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