North West Governors said they have the political will and what it takes to resolve the intractable insecurity ravaging the region.
The governors stated this at the end of the two-day North West Peace and Security Summit, held in Katsina, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with support from the German and Norwegian governments.
While lamenting that lives and sources of livelihood have been lost, and people displaced over the years as a result of activities of non-state actors, they have resolved to work together to deal with the menace in the region.
The governors who attended the meeting included Dikko Radda of Katsina State (who was the chief host); Umar Namadi (Jigawa), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), said they have the political will to channel the resources available to them to give a new lease of life to the millions of people in the region.
The governors of Sokoto and Kaduna were represented by their deputies- Engr. Idris Gobir and Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balaraba, while that of Kano was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Bappa Bichi.
Senators and members of the House of Representatives from the region as well as former governors of Katsina State, Aminu Masari and Ibrahim Shema; attended the closing of the event.
Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu on the opening day of the meeting while former President Muhammadu Buhari graced the occasion.
At the meeting were the Minister of Arts and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musawa; Minister of Youth, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, the Director -General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar; and the representatives of the Inspector General of Police and other security chiefs.
Eminent traditional rulers who were at the meeting included Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouk Umar; Emir of Katsina, HRH. Abdulmumuni Kabir Usman; Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, were present throughout the event.
Topics discussed included; Farmer-Herder Relations, Exploring Kinetic and Non-Kinetic Strategies for Advancing Peace and Security, Advancing Livelihoods and Food Security for Peace and Resilience, as well as Ending Kidnapping for Ransom, among other thematic areas.
The theme of the summit was ‘Regional Cooperation for Securing Lives and Livelihoods’, resource persons drawn from various sectors like security, agriculture, safety of women and children, and financial inclusion, spoke during various panel sessions on how to get it right in the North West region.
The governors said they will come together to resolve their challenges by identifying the comparative advantages of each of the states of the region and collectively helping to leverage on such advantages through regional frameworks.
Host Governor Radda, who is also the Chairman of North West Governors Forum, said all the governors have already hit the ground running in terms of regional cooperation by identifying three important pillars.
“First of all, we know that we have a common problem of insecurity in this region, so we decided that we should have a common approach to end it, which we adopted using the locals to tackle the problem.
“The other pillar, which is related to the first, is that we have agreed to come up with our state-owned security outfits, and three (states) already have theirs. Kebbi is in the pipeline and Kaduna already has an existing local security arrangement.
“Thirdly, we look at the agriculture, which is the mainstay of our economy, the major source of employment in the region and the major source of income to most of our people.
“We, therefore, take agriculture and agree that we will do it holistically in the region, in the sense that, we don’t have to do the same thing all at the same time. We look at the comparative advantage of each state and take advantage of it as a region,” he said.
He said all the governors have shown their willingness to cooperate in achieving that, which means the much needed political will is already in place, and urged all the professionals from the region to render their support to achieve such all-important goal.
Radda appealed to international donors to support the effort, not necessarily with funds, but technical knowhow to take the region out of the present state.
