Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has reiterated its commitment to addressing the region’s insecurity, poverty and environmental degradation, stressing that the challenges require collective and state-level actions.
This followed an alarm the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) raised at its 78th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday in Kaduna. The group warned that worsening insecurity, poverty and environmental crises were “pushing Northern Nigeria to the wall.
Responding on behalf of the NSGF chairman, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, his director-general of press affairs, Isma’ila Uba Misilli, said the governors, as a forum, were not silent but had been taking deliberate steps, both individually and jointly, in confronting the challenges.
“What the Northern States Governors Forum is doing aligns with what governors already do in their respective states. As chief security officers, they respond directly but collaborate under the forum,” Misilli told LEADERSHIP.
He explained that the NSGF recently convened a meeting with traditional rulers in Kaduna to galvanise support against insecurity, during which the governors backed the creation of state police and several other strategies.
“The forum believes that what happens in one state affects all Northern states. That is why they unanimously endorsed state policing as part of a more effective security architecture,” Misilli said.
He stressed that the forum’s strength lies in complementing individual state efforts with collective action, noting that while each governor takes direct responsibility as chief security officer in his state, the NSGF provides a united front where ideas are harmonised and strategies are shared.
Beyond security, Misilli noted that the governors identified poverty as a major driver of insecurity and have rolled out interventions to boost agriculture and food security.
“Farmers are being supported with subsidised fertilisers to encourage farming and reduce poverty,” he added.
Misilli said the governors were sharing innovative solutions to environmental challenges through a peer-review mechanism. He cited Gombe’s flagship Gombe Goes Green (3G) project, which targets one million trees annually to combat gully erosion.
“Through partnerships, Gombe is drastically reducing the threat of gully erosion in the state. Other states are replicating similar measures. Yobe is planning two million trees yearly, while Borno has also launched a tree planting campaign,” he explained.
According to him, the forum is committed to ensuring each state addresses its peculiar environmental issues while contributing to a collective regional strategy.
