Northern govs plan summit on security, education – Lalong

 Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has disclosed that northern governors would soon convene a summit on security and education.

This is even as Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle said there is no going back on establishment of Ruga settlements in the state.

Both governors spoke with State House Correspondents at the end of the Presidential Policy Retreat held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Lalong said the most important take away from the retreat was tackling insecurity.

“I had mentioned here that when I was elected as the chairman of Northern Governors Forum, that my priority is security. So, we discussed how to tackle insecurity as presented by the Inspector General of Police, with a lot of contributions.

“The second aspect is education; we mentioned to the president the Almajiri system. So, these were the things that all of us have taken in and very soon, I will convene the northern summit for us to collectively discuss because at the Northern Governors Forum, I have already set up a committee chaired by the governor of Katsina to look generally at insecurity in the north.

“We also set up another committee to look at education in the north and then the prospect of an economic summit for north. So, these are three things we are working on.”

Asked what his administration’s plans were in tackling insecurity, Matawalle said they would adopt Ruga in our strategy to address the herders/farmers crisis.

“It is a developmental project on ranching and we are ready for it,” he maintained.

On the political will to implement the resolutions of the retreat and other policies, Governor Lalong said: “At Federal Executive Council, at National Economic Council, we will continue to push for the implementation. It is not our duty but we are also heads of our state. Therefore, once Mr. President pulls the trigger, we will support him and we will also replicate it in our various states.”