Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has alleged that there are moves
\nby persons he did not name to bribe Northerners and divide them ahead of
\nthe 2015 General elections, warning that such moves must be vehemently
\nrejected.<\/p>\n
Aliyu, a member of the disgruntled G7 Governors who was speaking at the
\nformal commissioning of Liberty Radio, Kaduna also warned that the North
\nmust do all it can o resist any attempt to prevent the zone from
\npresenting a common front at the planned National Conference.<\/p>\n
The Governor said unless the North is united against all odds, the zone
\nmay go extinct.<\/p>\n
The governor said, \u201cToday, I will disappoint many of you. Having come from
\nthis part of the world (the North), we honour and respect agreements and
\nbecause of that, on September 15, the G7 governors and Mr. President
\nagreed on a ceasefire; that no more public discussions of the problems
\nthat are at stake and I am not going to talk about them, because I have to
\nhonour the agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to respect the office of Mr. President; we have to respect the
\nPresident. But I must say that the struggle of the G7 governors is noble.
\nWe have opened the door; the struggle is now for Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must go beyond rhetorics and mobilise our people to understand the
\npredicaments that we are in. We must go out to tell our people who are
\npoor, who are waiting for any manna from heaven and waiting for people who
\nhave amassed wealth for the campaigns. If we don\u2019t mobilise our people,
\nthey will be bought over. So, we must go back to our villages and hamlets
\nto ensure that people appreciate and understand the role they have to
\nplay.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we (the North) don\u2019t change our condition, we will become extinct.
\nThere is already an attempt to make sure that the north does not present a
\nunited cause and the unfortunate thing is that it is not outsiders that
\nare being used to do that, it is the people within.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I received a delegation to withdraw what we are doing and that there
\nis no North, then I said if there is no North, then there is no Niger
\nState. If there is no Niger state, then there is no Minna and if there is
\nno Minna, then there is no Babangida Aliyu.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor called for the unity of the region, adding that if the North
\nis not united, it will run into a bigger problem, stressing, \u201cWe need
\npeace and unity in Nigeria especially in the northern states; we need
\nhonest, committed and dedicated leaders in Nigeria, especially in the
\nnorthern states. Even though we had one Accidental Public servant who did
\nvery well, we don\u2019t want accidental leaders. We need leaders who have been
\nprepared and ready for the mantle of leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has been encouraged to set up a
\ncommittee on behalf of Northern Governors to look and collate all issues
\nand arguments that may come up for discussion at the National Conference.
\nI believe each state will set up similar committees so that we can adopt
\nsome positions that may guide our delegates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the governor also said an agreement has been reached between
\nPresident Goodluck Jonathan and the G7 governors over the crisis rocking
\nthe ruling PDP.
\nAliyu stated that central issue in the agreement is for both parties to
\ncease from making public statements on the PDP crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has alleged that there are moves by persons he did not name to bribe Northerners and divide them ahead of the 2015 General elections,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n