BY NONYELUM JULIET
Kaduna
The apex northern sociocultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has cautioned politicians for starting 2027 election campaigns too soon, saying hunger and economic struggles in Nigeria need attention first.
The ACF Chairman, Mamman Mike Osuman who said this during his opening remarks at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday urged leaders to tackle people’s needs before focusing on elections.
Osuman said, “Individual utterances and media exposés relating to the upcoming 2027 elections are already hitting the airwaves. This momentum, in my humble view, should take the back burner while emphasis should be earnestly placed on governance that will truly address the biting needs of our people that are daily subjected to sufferings as a result of brigandage, terrorism, kidnapping, mass murders, hunger, and diseases,” he said.
“While genuine desires to serve are welcome, concerted efforts that prioritise the safety and well-being of Nigerians should be uppermost in the minds of our leaders. Notwithstanding our individual political allegiance to individual politicians, groups, or ideologies, I humbly urge that we as ACF should, in practical terms, manifest and espouse ourselves as beacons of hope for our people by altruistically, openly, and courageously preaching truth to power in the manner done by the late Martin Luther King Junior, Indira Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela.”
The ACF also voiced anger over recent killings in the North. “Only recently, we were rudely astounded with the sad news of the resurgence of the debilitating terror attacks and loss of lives and property in Bokkos – Plateau State, the gruesome assassination of northerners in Uromi, Edo State, and the resurgence of Boko Haram in Borno State. The resurgence of these monstrous bloodthirsty psychopaths are issues of grave concern to us all in ACF,” Osuman said. He noted governors’ laments on TV about harm to citizens, questioning federal claims of calm in the North East after floods hit Maiduguri too.
The group hopes its new Security Committee will soon explain these attacks. They disrupt peace, empty farms, close schools, stop trade, and hurt livelihoods amid recession, high living costs, poor healthcare, and pricey transport.
The ACF also raised concerns over a land dispute between Kogi and Enugu States. They called on Vice President Shettima, head of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), to push the commission to mark the boundary with pillars.
“The Ette Community is an integral part of the North. It is in Kogi State, peopled by highly educated, skilled, and peace-loving people. The determination by Enugu State to illegally grab a portion of Ette land where rich mineral deposits abound has for years been resisted by our Ette brothers and sisters,” Osuman said. He claimed Enugu has attacked and killed Ette people despite records showing the land belongs to Kogi’s Ette Community.
