Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, has called for the strategic involvement of youths in the fight against insecurity in the north.
Sani spoke in Kaduna on Wednesday at the ‘Stakeholders’ roundtable on northern Nigeria youth development’ organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.
The governor said youths have been “severely” affected by banditry and insurgency, which he noted have left the region underdeveloped.
“In the development of marshal plans, security plans, or frameworks, northern states governments and stakeholders must strategically engage the youths,” Sani said.
“Their full involvement will surely be a game-changer in our fight against insecurity and tackling of our developmental challenges.
“While other regions are busy addressing developmental challenges and making life better for their people, terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, and communal conflicts have left northern communities desolate.
“Our youths have been terribly impacted by the activities of non-state actors.’’
The governor noted that before 2016, people could travel freely in the north without fear of being attacked by criminal elements, except for “occasional ethno-religious conflicts”.
Sani added that northern leaders have “failed woefully in addressing and implementing programmes to tackle the infrastructure gap,poverty,y and to unify our people”.
He urged past and present leaders from the north to come up with a “marshal plan” for youth development to make progress in the region’s rescue mission.
‘’Then came terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency. We folded our arms and failed to address the underlying causes of these threats to our collective existence,” the governor said.
“The people are beginning to question our actions. They are saying no to our self-centered politics. They are demanding answers. And answers we must give them.
‘’Our people want to know why the north is backward despite the humongous amount sank into its development.
‘’Blaming others for our predicament will not take us anywhere.
“If we fail to retrace our steps and tackle our security and developmental challenges with all the energy and resources we can muster, we may not be able to sleep in our houses in the next five years.”
