Northern Nigeria Governor Wives Forum elects Hadjia Amina Bello as its new chairperson

GOVERNOR Abubakar Bello of Niger State's wife Amina has been elected as the chairperson of the Northern Nigeria Governor Wives Forum following a recent meeting of the association in Abuja.

At the weekend meeting of the body at the presidential villa in Abuja, Hadjia Amina Abubakar was elected to replace Hadjiya Hadiza Abubakar, the wife of the former Bauchi State governor. At the last elections, Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was defeated at the polls by Governor Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

With Governor Abubakar now out of office, the position had to go to the wife of a current governor and Hadjia Bello was elected unanimously. After being elected, Hadjia Bello used her acceptance speech to call for socio-economic development in all the 19 states that make up northern Nigeria.

She urged the government at all levels to introduce skills acquisition programmes in order to create jobs that will stem rampant unemployment and breed a new generation of entrepreneurs who will transform the economic landscape of the country. Northern Nigeria's 19 states lag far behind the south in terms of education, infrastructure, healthcare and industrial development.

This has spurred the growth of an army of street urchins known as Almajiris who have recently become recruits for terrorist groups like Boko Haram. Politicians are also arming them with AK47s to do their dirty work, leaving to spiralling crime in the form of kidnapping and banditry, with many of them also becoming foot soldiers for Fulani cattle herdsmen, carrying out murderous attacks across the country.