By Nurat Uthman
The Governors of the 19 Northern States on Monday met with traditional rulers from the region in Kaduna State to discuss critical issues affecting the region.
The meeting was part of the Northern States Governors’ Forum’s efforts to engage with key stakeholders and address pressing concerns, especially the lingering insecurity, poverty, out-of-school children and other socio-economic challenges ravaging the region.
The meeting which was chaired by the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, and hosted by Governor Uba Sani at Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House in Kaduna, has in attendance the governors of Kaduna, Gombe, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Borno, Bauchi, Kwara and Adamawa states. Also present were deputy governors from other Northern States.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa also attended the meeting and briefed the governors on efforts by the military to tackle banditry, terrorism and other security challenges bedevilling the Northern region.
Traditional rulers including the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Saad; Shehu of Borno, Umar El-Kanemi; Emir of Zazzau, Nuhu Bamali; Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, Emir of Kazaure, Emir of Bauchi were also at the meeting.
In their opening remarks, Yahaya and Sani both underpinned the need for urgent action to be taken to address the lingering insecurity which has impacted negatively on the economy of Northern Nigeria.
