North not parasite in Nigeria

CONTRARY to claims by some Nigerians, the Northern States Governors’ Forum has emphatically said that the region is not a parasite on other parts of the country.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, made the clarification in Minna on Thursday when he received The Peace and Development Award, bestowed on him by the popular Zumunta Zabi Sonka Social Association, in recognition of the governor’s peace and development initiatives in the country.

Aliyu told the gathering, which also swore in its new National Executive Council members that the North is made up of hard working and serious minded people, who have contributed and are still contributing their quota to national development.

“We should reject the claim by some people that the North is a parasite in Nigeria. The North has shown capability to make the difference in the country before and after independence,” he said.

Aliyu, therefore, challenged the people of the region to be more industrious by creating opportunities for employment and economic development of the states and the region.

On the insurgency that has hampered the economic growth of some parts of the North, Aliyu said no one should shelter members of the Boko Haram group who are at the forefront of the crisis rocking the region. He added that shielding the sect members will be un-Islamic and a betrayal of the nation.

“No one prays for another civil war. Anyone that wants to cause it should be ostracised’’, the governor advised, adding that the North as a whole should unite against insurgency because ‘’what is happening in the North was never thought to happen.”

Aliyu challenged members of the Zumunta Zabi Sonka Social Association to assist in the image laundering of the country because of their wide spread and acceptability by the people.