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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Group, Coalition of Northern Activists for Peace (CNAP), on Monday said the North is healing and not bleeding as thought by some Nigerians within and outside the region.
To this coalition, the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari is doing well in tackling the security challenges bedevilling the country quickly shifted the blame to some unscrupulous politicians and clerics for pockets of security issues in the north.
Addressing the newsmen during a ‘solidarity walk’ which took place from Ali Akilu roundabout and terminated at the New Nigerian Newspaper frontage along Ahmadu Bello way, Kaduna, the state convener, Zubairu Mukhtar argued that, the security situation in the north especially, Kaduna, was not as bad as it is being painted in some quarters.
The solidarity walk titled, “The North, Our North, Our Kaduna”, was to appreciate “the substantial efforts” of the Muhammadu Buhari administration and security agencies in addressing the challenges that have bedevilled Northern Nigeria, Mukhtar said.
“The North has over time been on the spotlight with issues of insecurity specifically banditry, terrorism and Cyber propaganda. We all know for certain that the issues at stake require a multi-stakeholder approach, which is necessary considering the dynamics of the issues that have affected the socio-economic well-being of the peaceful and loving people of Kaduna State and indeed Northern Nigeria.
“It is a known fact that the past twelve years have been challenging especially with the havoc caused by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgent group and other militant organizations in States like Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Plateau and our dear Kaduna State.
“It is indeed a statement of fact that the actions of these criminal elements brought sorrow, tears and blood in a most barbaric and condemnable manner.
“As concerned stakeholders in Northern Nigeria and Kaduna State, we cannot feign ignorance to the issues affecting our state and the region, which by all indications are politically motivated.
“This is incognizant that successive governments attempted to address the issues. However, their best wasn’t good enough, so much so that we feared that Armageddon had come”, he said.
He continued, “the present administration’s actions towards addressing the issues in Northern Nigeria have been noteworthy despite the array of conspiracies against it. We knew that it was equally a daunting task, for it would not be business as usual.
“We knew that the promoters of bloodshed in Kaduna and indeed Northern Nigeria would fight back vigorously. And they did, but to no avail, because we have a president who has displayed an unalloyed Leadership, commitment to leaving Nigeria better than he met it.
“Today, we are all witnesses to the notable efforts of our security agencies in curtailing the activities of bandit’s, terrorists and cyber propagandists that have been terrorizing most northern parts of the country including Kaduna State.
“We expressly commend the patriotic effort of the head of the secret police and his team, the Nigerian Police, the Nigerian Army and the Airforce for bringing professionalism to bear in a demonstration that the president appointed the right people to get the job done.
“Let us make no mistakes; the Muhammadu Buhari administration has set Nigeria on the path of greatness. Gone are those days where we feared for the worse. Gone are those days where local government areas in Northern Nigeria and our dear state Kaduna were under the control of non-state actors. And gone are those days where our security agencies could not defend the territorial integrity of our dear country.
“We are indeed on the right track. We enormously thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his sound leadership that has brought us out of darkness and into the light. The various indices in Northern Nigeria point in the right direction. It behooves on all well-meaning Nigerians to join forces towards ensuring that the peacebuilding process is not truncated for whatever reason”.
