Atiku calls on state governors to organise their own summit to tackle Nigeria's insecurity

FORMER vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called in the governors of Nigeria's 36 states to take the initiative and introduce measures to combat the growing insecurity in the country rather than wait for the federal government.

Last week, the Southern Governors Forum called in President Muhammadu Buhari to address the growing insecurity in the country at a summit it held in Asaba, the Delta State capital. It also called for the establishment of state police forces, the restructuring of the country and then banned open grazing across the 17 states of southern Nigeria.

Responding to the ongoing national debate over the matter, Alhaji Abubakar said that rather than resort to such fora, state governors should meet as a unit to save the country without waiting for the federal government. In a statement titled Nigeria Is Drifting: We Must Stop Waiting For God, he said the state chief executives should convene a national unity summit to solve thorny issues affecting the country. 

Alhaji Abubakar said: “Let us apply this wisdom to our present challenges. I call on Nigerian governors to stop waiting on Abuja to make changes and instead convene a national unity summit of all Nigerian governors to iron out the thorny issues affecting the destiny of our nation until they figure out a way to resolve them. 

“Forget about your party, forget about your tribe. Respect your religion and allow it to bring out the better part of you. Meet together, talk together. Come up with the solutions to all our collective challenges and then go back to your states and consult with your federal and state legislators, with a view to getting them to work with their colleagues to implement the solutions you came up with. That is how to save Nigeria.

"We are not just drifting politically and economically, we are also drifting apart from each other. I have often said that the difference between us is not north and south but between good and bad, therefore, those who are good should come together to show those who are bad that we are in the overwhelming majority."