Ex-governor berates FG over insecurity

Category: Lead stories Published on Monday, 07 January 2013 06:00

Former military governor of the defunct North-Western state, Alhaji Usman Faruk, has raised alarm over poor handling of the rising insecurity in parts of the North warning that the situation could consume the entire country.

Speaking to newsmen at his Kaduna residence yesterday, Faruk expressed reservation over the shoddy manner the federal government is handling the situation.

He said “I’m not satisfied with the way the federal government is handling it. If it is allowed to continue, it will consume all of us. It is escalating by the day. The house we suffered to build is going to crumble in our face. It is going to consume all of us.”

The retired police chief said “government should have done better. The insecurity in the North is terribly bad. It is a very serious situation that requires the attention of all. Since the Boko Haram crisis started many groups and elders have met but they were only able to find out the causes but they have not found the solution to it”.

Faruk therefore urged northern leaders agitating for the presidency in 2015 to forget their ambition and concentrate on how to address challenges facing the region.

“You have to secure your house before you will be talking of who leads it. Let us address the challenges before talking about who gets what. The Boko Haram was not conceived to destroy or discredit Jonathan’s administration as believed in some quarters,” he said. 

The octogenarian called on the federal government to dialogue with the Boko Haram sect in order to find a lasting solution to the problem.

He also berated the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) saying “the ACF has met severally on the challenges facing the North but they only issue communiqué to the press but they don’t write to the appropriate quarters.”

Faruk said he would be organising a summit in Kano this month to find solution to challenges facing the region. He said the summit will be attended by former Heads of State, General Yakubu Gowon, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abubakar Abdulsalam and all elders in the North who have served in the area of security.

“We will all converge on Kano to find solutions to the problems. We will review the recommendations of all the meetings held on the insecurity challenge facing us and we will at the end of the day find solution to it. We will not allow the country to crumble on us,” he said.