.Lament poor infrastructure in North-Central
By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Nigeria’s two former heads of state, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and General Abdusalam Abubakar, have pledged support for the formation of North-Central Peoples’ Forum (NCPF).
They pledged their support, when the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Lt. Gen Jeremiah Useni (rtd), led other members of the Board of Trustees (BOTs) to visit them separately in Minna, the Niger State capital.
During the group’s visit to Babangida, the former military president said that the formation of NCPF was long overdue.
He said that with the unfolding events in Nigeria, NCPF would serve as a strong voice for the zone.
Babangida, who was the first to receive the group, said that he had often wondered why the North-Central has never came up with a common front to chart a course for itself especially with the level of general underdevelopment the zone.
He lamented that despite being part of the North, the North-Central has not measured up with some other states in the zone politically notwithstanding that the region commands more votes.
Babangida said that it was surprising that with the number of votes from North-Central states which is almost more than both the South-West and the South-South regions put together, the region was yet to benefit politically compared to the amount of sacrifices made.
His words: “I have always wondered when I hear groups from North-West, North-East, South-South and South-West and I kept wondering where we in the North-Central belonged especially as God has blessed us with the quality and calibre of people and I thought perhaps we were not playing our roles well.
“I have had a good look at the contribution of the zone politically in terms of votes and I found out that your region has more votes than both the South-West and the South-South and yet the South-South makes more noise than other zones”.
While pledging his support to the group, Babangida said the emergence of the NCPF was apt and timely when the North-Central region needed a voice that would work towards bringing about overall development for the governments and people of the region.
He said, “I want to commend you for forming this forum and I assure you that we will be with you and support you always. I know that you will be the envy of other zones because you have what it takes to be recognized as a strong and potent zone in this country”.
At the residence of Abubakar, the former leader also said that the NCPF was long overdue as its coming on board would not only bring about political recognition as a force to reckon with in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
The forming of NCPF as a strong voice for the propagation of political and socio-economic emancipation of the zone, Abdulsalam argued, would go a long way to reducing the differences between ethnic nationalities by way of building bridges of understanding among the tribes and the entire country in general.
Abdulsalam commended the BoT members, saying, “I congratulate you for conceiving and forming the NCPF and we are expecting that the forum will have remarkable performances as the brains behind it have all achieved great strides in their various previous offices.
“Certainly, you have our support in delivering the purposes for this NCPF. It will go a long way to minimize disharmony between different ethnic nationalities and between the amalgamations of all the tribes we have in this region”.
The former military leader however urged the forum to work assiduously in making sure that all the abandoned sectors in the North-Central, most especially social amenities like road network come tops in their agitations.
Abdulsalami, who listed some of the roads that had become death traps to include; Minna-Suleja, Yelwa-Jos, Lokoja-Kabba, Kabba-Offa, said, “These are the lifelines connecting us to the Southern part of the country but unfortunately through omission or commission have been abandoned. I want to urge you to put your searchlight on developmental issues”.
Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees Chairman of the NCPF, General Jeremiah Useni, said that the forum was being encouraged with the support and blessings of the two former Nigerian leaders.
According to Useni, “What the two leaders have said will further galvanize our reports and next move. They have shown that they believe in us and what we are doing, and they have also told us that what we have done or what we are doing is long overdue”.
Useni was accompanied on the visit by the Secretary of the NCPF Board of Trustee, Alhaji Khalid Bolaji, Chief Michael Onoja, Alhaji Safianu Barje and Mr. Michael Onoja.