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The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has reaffirmed its support for the establishment of state police to tackle the region’s security challenges.
The forum’s Chairman, who is also the Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, announced this at the forum’s meeting yesterday in Abuja.
The Gombe governor noted that modern security threats required localised, intelligence-driven responses.
“We have consistently maintained that the nature and complexity of the security challenges we face require localized, intelligence-driven responses that only state policing can effectively provide,” he said.
Yahaya also hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for working with the National Assembly to create the constitutional framework for state police.
The forum reiterated its commitment to the Northern States Security Trust Fund, under which member-states agreed to contribute N1 billion monthly.
Yahaya, however, noted that contributions had varied across states.
He praised Nasarawa, Gombe, Borno, Kebbi, and Kaduna states for meeting their obligations, urging others to do so promptly.
“The effectiveness of this Fund depends on our collective commitment, consistency, and shared sense of urgency,” he said.
The Gombe governor added that states were to nominate trustees to ensure transparent oversight.
The forum’s chairman stressed that military action alone would not resolve insecurity in the region, linking the crisis to socio-economic challenges.
“Insecurity in Northern Nigeria is deeply intertwined with issues of illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, and underdevelopment. If we are to achieve lasting peace, we must invest deliberately and massively in education and human capital development,” Yahaya said.
To curtail the recurring farmer-herder clashes, the forum backed the Federal Government’s livestock transformation initiatives as a pathway to lasting solutions.
The governors also urged residents of the region to support the administration’s efforts to improve security and development.
In a communiqué signed by Yahaya, the forum pledged continued support for the Federal Government’s security agenda and called on Nigerians to support the armed forces in what it described as a “critical national assignment”.
The forum announced the progress it had made on the establishment of the New Nigeria Energy Company (NNEC), resolving to sustain engagement with the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer to advance the Sun Africa Project, a solar initiative aimed at boosting electricity supply across the northern region.
“The forum is dedicated to ensuring that lasting peace and security are firmly established throughout the region and the entire country,” the communiqué stated.
Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Mohammed Umaru Bago (Niger), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Kabir Yusuf (Kano), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Nasir Idris (Kebbi), Usman Ododo (Kogi), and Ahmad Aliyu (Sokoto) attended the meeting.
Deputy governors of Benue, Plateau, and Katsina states represented their principals.
THE NATION.
