The Northern Governors’ Forum at the weekend met with key leaders of
coalition of Arewa groups that issued eviction notice to Igbos. The coalition had asked Igbos to vacate the nineteen States of Northern Nigeria before October 1, 2017.
Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Borno
State, Kashim Shettima, led the talks on behalf of his colleagues.
The coalition was represented by its leaders including their
spokesman, Abdulazeez Suleman who read the eviction notice in June,
tagged ‘the Kaduna declaration’.
Others were Balarabe Rufai, Yerima Shettima, Ashir Sherrif and Aminu Adam.
Shettima said the dialogue option was chosen because a “political problem often requires a political solution”.
“It is only a fool that doesn’t change his mind to review decisions
and strategies. There is never a limit to who should be engaged in
dialogue no matter what the situation is.
“After all, even armed conflicts of deaths and destructions often end
through dialogue with persons who took up arms against a State.
“Some people may think the withdrawal of eviction ultimatum by the
coalition wouldn’t mean so much but to us as leaders and from our
experiences, it is always dangerous to underestimate the capacity of any
group of youths especially when youths come together and seem
determined.
“There are millions of other youths that might have been following
and supportive of the activities of the coalition of Arewa groups and as
we know, issues relating to ethnicity and religion mostly get out of
control.
“The youths held prior meeting with His Eminence, the Sultan in
previous time. Yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday) We had a very
fruitful discussion and I believe in the coming days, there will
something positive from them.
“In our dialogue they explained their position and I also explained
the position of the Governors and why we differed. They demonstrated
patriotism and commitment to the unity of Nigeria and progress of the
country” Shettima said.
Abdulazeez Suleiman, spokesman of the coalition, said the meeting
with the Northern Governors was a sign of respect for their leaders.
“We have listened to Governor Kashim Shettima. This is the first time
we are meeting any leader in Government and doing it before the media.
“It is a major development and we are going to make some consultation
with other representatives of different groups in the north after which
we will make our resolution known by addressing the media”.