THE Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, (CNPP) Northern zone has said the time has come for the political leaders in the country to address the insecurity challenges facing the region as it has affected the growth and development in the area.
In a statement issued to newsmen on Thursday and signed by Alh Umaru Faruk Ibrahim said, ‘the incident of terrorism, farmers/migrant herders crisis over grazing rights and farmlands encroachment, cattle rustling, indigene/settler crisis, economic, political, and ethno- religious conflicts, reprisal attacks and the manipulation of ethnicity and Religion by politicians have been a stumbling block on the wheel of progress for the region and Nigeria as a whole.
“It is worthy to note that political groups target sectional, ethnic, religious conflicts and use them as a strategy for assertion, separation agendas, agitation for marginalization and political or religious goals.”
The statement therefore noted “We must imbibe and put into practice a culture and value system of unity in diversity, bridge building, accommodation, dialogue, understanding, empathy, social harmony through peaceful co-existence, as well as support and cooperate with Security agencies for security strengthening.
“These will enable us to achieve social harmony, economic prosperity, and indeed, reposition us to face and overcome the vital and inevitable challenges of sustainable socio-economic development and global relevance.
‘After all, achieving good governance, unity, security, peaceful co-existence and sustainable socio-economic development is a complimentary and collective responsibility.
“Sadly, 70% of these conflicts are blamed on politics and related intrigues. Hence the buck stops on the table of our political leaders to address these challenges”.
According to CNPP, political leadership need to act as “unguarded and irresponsible posterings and utterances by politicians, traditional/ community leaders, religious clerics, Youths/ opinion shapers trigger and escalate such conflicts.”
According to them, “The recurring status of these dastardly acts affect economic wellbeing as well. Local direct investment (LDI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) are either lost or potential investors avoid crisis prone areas.
”As a panacea, the conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) Northern Zone believe, all of us need a paradigm shift and attitudinal reorientation at this crucial moment.
”Consequently, we call on our Leaders at all levels to be focused, selfless, visionary and pro-common man in their governance activities during their respective tenures, in line with international best practices.
“On the other hand, as a people with common destiny, we need to constantly include President Muhammadu Bahari in our prayer for a quick recovery as a matter of overall National interest, and indeed, all our Leaders, exhibit a very high level of patriotism, be pro-active, make objective not distractive actions and criticisms, proffer progressive advice and solutions devoid of political, selfish, ethno-religious considerations.”
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