A former Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Dalhatu Bafarawa, has said division along religious lines was used to divide the people of northern Nigeria to prevent the region from realising its full economic and socio-cultural potential.
Different parts of Northern Nigeria have over the year grappled with one form of insecurity or another. For instance, the North East has been suffering from Boko Haram insurgency for over a decade, the North Central battles farmers-herders conflict while the North West is encountering banditry and terrorism.
Farmers across conflict-ridden areas in the North can barely go to farms now, thereby posing threats to food security and agriculture, the mainstay of the region.
Bafarawa in an interview with BBC Hausa monitored by our correspondent in Bauchi yesterday said, “If religion were not used, the North would never be divided forever. We understand this and that is why we are now worried, so we can stand up and correct this disaster we have found ourselves in.”
To address the challenge, Bafarawa said giving leadership positions to youths from northern Nigeria remained a viable tool for rescuing the region from the shackles of insecurity, poverty and economic backwardness.
Bafarawa along with other northern political gladiators, unveiled a new frontier, the Northern Star Empowerment Initiative, to mobilise youths from the region to join hands and resuscitate their communities from underdevelopment.
He said the idea behind the new group was to awaken northern youths to be involved in different leadership roles to develop the region.
He said the new group is not a political platform and would not participate in politics.
“By God, I don’t want to be elected into any position for the rest of my life. I want youths to be given their rightful place so that we can have peace and progress in the North. This group aims to lead northern youths and put them in charge because we fight for their rights. If we want peace, we must lead our youths ON the right path,” he said.
Bafarawa said his group had already received support from Muslim and Christian religious leaders in the region.
He stressed that the North was facing many challenges that require new approaches and the creation of unity between leaders and youth in the region before progress can be achieved.
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