- The North East Governors’ Forum, led by Governor Babagana Zulum, urges the military to neutralize insurgents who refuse to surrender in the region’s ongoing mass surrender efforts
- Governor Zulum highlights the need to focus on irrigation farming and addresses other challenges such as illegal mining and constitutional amendments
The North East Governors’ Forum has urged the military to kill insurgents who refuse to surrender in the sub-region’s ongoing mass surrender by terrorists.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno, Chairman of the North East Governors’ Forum, made the call at the forum’s 8th meeting on Saturday in Maiduguri.
Zulum, who praised the military for the sub-regions relative peace, which facilitated the return of normalcy in many areas, stated that there was a need to smoke the remnants who refused to surrender from their hideout.
Let me use this auspicious occasion to commend our brave military in the fight against the insurgency which remains unquestionable while their determination to succeed is very glaring.
No doubt, they have considered and acted upon a wide range of options in the fight against terrorism, thereby recording tremendous progress which has clearly indicated that the end to the insurgency in the sub-region is fast approaching.
I want to call on the Nigerian military to reach into the enclaves of the insurgents who are not ready to lay down their arms. We must pursue them to their hideouts in the remote nook and cranny and neutralise those who refuse to surrender, Zulum said.
The governor, who lamented the negative impact of insurgency on socioeconomic activities in the sub-region, stated that efforts to improve things would be slowed until the terrorists were defeated.
The governor also discussed this year’s erratic rainfall and last year’s flood, which devastated food and infrastructure in the sub-region, and urged the Federal Government to intervene.
He stated that the governors of the northeast had taken steps to repair some of the damage.
I urge us to collectively strategise and develop new adaptable farming methods to mitigate the impact of the low rainfall on crop cultivation this farming season.
Therefore, there is the need for us to focus more on irrigation farming this time around more than ever before.
I urge the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to focus on the support for irrigation farming in the sub-region in addition to its key mandate of providing critical infrastructure for the sustainable development of the sub-region.
The governor, who also addressed illegal mining, called for collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals to combat such miners’ activities.
He also called the forum’s attention to a recent amendment to the 1999 Constitution that moved power generation and railway transportation from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
He stated that the development was critical for them to capitalize on in order to provide independent power supply and rail transportation in the sub-region.
Vice President Kashim Shettima presided over the meeting’s opening and the presentation of N15 billion in palliatives to the governors by NEDC, and he praised the governors for their unity in confronting challenges despite party differences.
He urged them to keep up the pace.