In a bid to tackle insecurity in the North, the 19 Northern governors have planned to organize a summit on the Almajiri system of education in the zone.
This is even as governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, said his administration would go ahead with the Ruga Settlement initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture to tackle herders /farmers conflict.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a two-day Presidential Policy Retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, weekend, chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Simon Lalong, said one of the issues that dominated discussions at the retreat was how to tackle insecurity.
Lalong, who is the governor of Plateau State, said the northern governors were also planning to organize an economic summit, with the aim of securing the zone economically as well as tackle the challenges of insecurity in the zone.
He said: “One of the most important things I am taking away from the retreat is tackling insecurity. I had mentioned here that when I was elected as the chairman of Northern Governors Forum, I said my priority is security.
“So, part of the lectures, we discussed how to tackle insecurity as presented by the Inspector- General of Police, with a lot of contributions.
“The second aspect is education. We mentioned to the President the Almajiri system. So these were the things that all of us have taken in and very soon, I will convene the northern summit for us to collectively discuss because at the Northern Governors Forum, I have already set up a committee chaired by the Governor of Katsina (Aminu Masari) to look at generally insecurity in the North.
“We also set up another committee to look at education in the North and then the prospect of an economic summit for North. So, these are three things which we are working on.
“We gained a lot that is why many of us were here from morning to night discussing with Mr President and I can see the determination because it’s a way of moving forward.”
He said the retreat was organized by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Muhammadu Buhari to prepare the President for the inauguration of his Federal Executive Council, FEC, members.
He said: “Many of us are also going to copy the same and take it home as many of us have not even set up our cabinets. So we are also going to do the same and transfer it to our various states.”
On the political will to implement the resolutions of the retreat and other policies, the governor said it was the reason the party set up the retreat.
“I think this is the first time the party is bringing this initiative. They provided the platform and said, Mr President, let us prepare you for your executive and you monitor the implementation and the party said let all the governors come and learn, we are here and we have learned,” he said.
He said that the governors will continue to push for the implementation of the resolution of the retreat at the FEC and the National Economic Council, NEC.
He said: “It is not our duty but we are also heads of our state, therefore, once Mr. President pulls in trigger, we will support him and we will also replicate it in our various states.”
On what he will do differently on security in Plateau State in his second term in office, Lalong said: ”I have said this on several occasions that Plateau is one state that went into insecurity when there was serious insecurity but now in Plateau, we have relative peace.
“My state is not one of those that are engulfed in crisis right now. But with this and some of the issues that were raised, I am going to add some of the knowledge I gained to the current method and also the process I have set in place to ensure we have peace in Plateau State.”
Also fielding questions on what should be expected in terms of agricultural transformation in Zamfara State, Governor Bello Matawalle said: “In Zamfara, we will adopt Ruga in our strategy to address the herders/farmers crisis; it is a developmental project on ranching and we are ready for it.”
