Northern Elders Forum asks governors to stop quarrelling in public

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has cautioned governors in the region against quarrelling in public.

Some of the governors have been at loggerheads with one another over the rising insecurity in the region and how best to tackle it.

Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, had said herdsmen have no option but to carry AK-47 rifles to protect themselves.

However, Sameul Ortom, his Benue counterpart, condemned the statement, saying it is against the constitution.

Ortom said any herder who wanted to carry arms should go to Bauchi and “meet Bala Mohammed, and there you can carry AK-47, and you’ll not be apprehended”.

He also claimed Mohammed is part of an organisation terrorising the country.

Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo governor, and Mohammed had also exchanged words over the south-west governor’s order that herdsmen vacate the state’s forest reserves.

Wading into the feud, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, NEF director of publicity and advocacy, who spoke during the joint meeting of governors, traditional leaders and the federal government delegation in Kaduna on Thursday, said there are other ways for leaders to resolve their disputes without bringing it into the public space.

He warned that if they continued bickering openly, it might cause panic among the people.

“Governors are leaders and when governors disagree so openly, on the way forward either on security or how to deal with banditry it causes more panic among our people. We beg our leaders; there must be a way to resolve issues among governors without making some of these things public,” Baba-Ahmed said.

He said the NEF will not fail to criticise leaders in the region if need be.

“When we do that, it doesn’t mean we are on the opposite side, it just means that the north has a lot of assets and all the assets need to be put to use one. There is no need for ethnicity or religion because the entire north is in trouble,” he said.