Mixed Reactions As ACF Urges Tinubu To Prioritise Security

The apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to temporarily suspend or scale down budgetary spending on non-essential projects and focus national energy, funding, and leadership attention on bringing the security crisis to an end without further delay.

ACF said its suggestion does not mean abandoning development, but that it is better to secure the nation first, and then build it.

In a communique issued by chairman, ACF Board of Trustees, Bashir M. Dalhatu, on Wednesday after the 38th meeting of the board held in Abuja, lamented that insecurity is now directly undermining Nigeria’s economy,

“Agriculture—especially in the North—is under severe threat. Supply chains are disrupted, inflation is worsened, and rural economies are collapsing.

“The longer the crisis persists, the more expensive it becomes to fix. Redirecting national resources toward security is not a diversion from economic development; it is a prerequisite for it.”

The communique noted that hundreds of thousands of Nigerians had been killed or displaced in Borno, Plateau, Niger, Kwara and many other places.

“This is not even counting the large number of our armed forces personnel, including very senior military officers. Families have been shattered, livelihoods destroyed, and entire generations traumatised,” it said.

“Until Nigerians can live in peace and with dignity, work on their farms, travel, without fear, every other national ambition remains on hold in practice, if not in policy.

“The path forward is clear: secure the nation first—decisively, comprehensively, and without delay,” the communique stated.

Insecurity Should Be Given Priority –PANDEF

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has said the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government should prioritise security.

Also, the Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political Organisation, Afenifere, has thrown its weight behind the recent call by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for urgent measures to address the country’s worsening insecurity, describing the move as timely and necessary.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, national publicity secretary of PANDEF, High Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, said the call by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to focus on tackling insecurity was not total.

“That call by ACF is not total because for those of us who read development studies, development is holistic in the sense that it includes security, it includes good roads, good hospitals, accessibility to health. It is all-encompassing. You cannot achieve one area and leave the other,” PANDEF said.

MBF Opposes ACF On Call For Suspension Of Non-Essential Projects

The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has opposed the advice given to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to temporarily suspend or scale down budgeting for non-essential projects and to focus national energy, funding, and leadership attention on ending the nation’s insecurity.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, MBF spokesman Luka Binniyat said the best and only way to end insecurity was for the government to help each community obtain non-military arms under a regulated plan.

MBF maintained that as long as citizens were treated as criminals for arming themselves with simple shotguns, while terrorists carry high-calibre weapons, “there is no way this evil can stop”

According to MBF, “The Middle Belt Forum does not believe that the rising insecurity in the Middle Belt and Arewa North is due to a lack of funds for security and military operations in these areas. We firmly hold our view that it is mainly the result of a failed and deliberate strategy that has allowed those who benefit from the violence to continue their business as it goes.

“Again, we also believe that the political and religious leaders of the Arewa North can stop this crisis if they talk among themselves and agree that the killings, kidnapping and displacements in these areas must stop. Because we strongly believe that they know the main actors behind the Jihad (hidden as terrorism and banditry)”

The forum added, “The best and only way to end this carnage, as the MBF has always said, is for the government to help each community obtain non-military arms under a regulated plan. As long as citizens are treated as criminals for arming themselves with simple shotguns, while terrorists carry high-calibre weapons, there is no way this evil can be stopped. So the MBF does not stand with the ACF on this,” MBF said.

Afenifere Backs ACF On Insecurity, Demands Decisive Action

Spokesman of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, said the call by ACF, though commendable, ought to have come much earlier, considering the scale of destruction caused by banditry and related crimes across Nigeria.

‎Ajayi noted that insecurity has continued to fester largely due to the involvement of powerful individuals who sponsor or support criminal elements, stressing that exposing such actors remains critical to ending the crisis.

‎He maintained that the establishment of state police, alongside a firm commitment to flush out bandits from affected communities, remains one of the most effective ways to tackle the menace.

According to him, Afenifere had consistently raised concerns about insecurity from the final years of the administration of Goodluck Jonathan through the tenure of Muhammadu Buhari and into the current government led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

‎He said the organisation had not only highlighted the dangers posed by bandits but also offered practical solutions over the years, adding that it was encouraging that northern leaders are now equally alarmed by the situation.

‎He said, “For some years before the end of the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, all through the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari and since the inception of the present administration under President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Afenifere has consistently drawn attention to the threat that bandits are posing to Nigeria and to Nigerians.

“Suggestions were also always given as to what we consider the way out. So, it is a welcome development that our counterparts in the North are also now so worried about the insecurity menace that has claimed so many lives, maimed thousands, displaced so many, destroyed properties and sacked communities in addition to making the pursuit of livelihood very difficult for a lot of people.”

‎Ajayi further disclosed that insecurity featured prominently at Afenifere’s recent caucus meeting held at the residence of its leader, Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, where members deliberated extensively on the issue.

‎He quoted from the communiqué issued after the meeting, which called for strengthening the military and other security agencies through improved equipment, enhanced welfare, and the adoption of both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies.

‎He added, “Afenifere spokesman commended the leadership of ACF and urged them to support the steps by the Federal Government and the military to bring the menace of banditry to an end as soon as possible.

‎”This, they can do by beaming searchlights on those within and outside the communities in the North who are either sponsoring, harbouring or collaborating with bandits to wreak havoc on our lands.”