North Not A Parasite In Nigeria Aliyu

FROM LEFT: GOV. MUKHTAR YERO OF KADUNA STATE; GOV. BABANGIDA ALIYU OF NIGER AND DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF KATSINA STATE, ALHAJI ABDULLAHI FASKERE, AT A NORTHERN GOVERNORS FORUM MEETING IN KADUNA.

The Northern States Governors Forum has reiterated its position that the region is not a parasite on other parts of the country.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, made the clarification in Minna, the state capital, on Thursday when he received The Peace and Development Award, bestowed on him by the popular Zumunta Zabi Sonka Social Association, in recognition of his peace and development initiatives in the country.

The NSGF chairman told the association, which also swore in its new National Executive Council members that the North has hard working and serious minded people, who have contributed and are still contributing their quota to national development.

We should reject the claim by some people that the North is a parasite in Nigeria. The North has shown capability to make the difference in the country before and after independence, he said.

Aliyu, therefore, challenged the people of the region to be more industrious by creating opportunities for employment and economic development of the states and the region.

On the Boko Haram insurgency that has stunted the economic growth of some parts of the North, Aliyu cautioned people of the region against providing safe haven for the terrorists. He added that shielding the sect members from the arms of the law will be un-Islamic and a betrayal of the nation.

No one prays for another civil war. Anyone that wants to cause it should be ostracized, the governor said, adding that the North as a whole should unite against insurgency because what is happening in the North was never thought to happen.

The governor also tasked members of the association on the need to assist in the laundering of the countrys image using their wide spread and acceptability by the people.