The Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, has restated the commitment of northern governors to address the challenge of insecurity in the region.
Yahaya stated this on Monday in Gombe whilst receiving a comprehensive report of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) put together by the Coalition’s Experts’ Committee on insecurity in Northern Nigeria.
He acknowledged the increasing impact of insecurity on the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians and expressed his colleagues’ strong commitment to partnering key stakeholders to tackle the issue effectively.
The governor stated that plans were on to approach the fight against insecurity collectively by convening an all-stakeholders’ meeting towards finding a lasting solution to the menace of insecurity in the region.
He said that the meeting would include past and present leaders, traditional rulers, security chiefs, and civil society organisations.
According to him, the meeting will be to discuss and implement strategies aimed at restoring lasting peace in the region.
“This time around, we want to take a collective approach to the insecurity issue. This report is timely.
“We will study it and work together towards its implementation.
“We are currently planning to convene an expanded meeting with all critical stakeholders in the region.
“This will be to further explore how we can come together to propose solutions that will genuinely address these problems completely”, Yahaya said.
The governor commended the leadership of the CNG for putting forward a comprehensive report that analysed the strategies aimed at addressing the region’s security challenges.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Committee of Experts on security component of the CNG, Mr Bashir Ibrahim, said the report contained workable strategies aimed at tackling insecurity in the region.
Ibrahim said addressing insecurity in Northern Nigeria required an “all-society” approach, saying no one should be a spectator.
“One of the key strategies that this report evolved is a strategy for what we call an all-society approach to tackling insecurity in Northern Nigeria.
“An all-society approach means everybody is a stakeholder, and there is no spectator because insecurity does not spare anyone.
“We have outlined a strategy whereby every citizen has a role to play in bringing solutions towards ending insecurity”, he said.