The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has taken a critical look at the worrisome security challenges facing Nigeria with an urgent call on the federal government to declare a national security emergency across the country.
The Forum, rising on Sunday from an expanded meeting in Abuja to discuss the state of the nation as well as the 2023 polls, also warned that the forthcoming general election may not take place if the recurring issue of banditry is not nipped in the bud ahead of time.
In a communiqué jointly signed at the end of the two-hour closed-door meeting by SMBLF leaders including its National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark; Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor; National President, Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus and National Chairman, PANDEF, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, the Forum called on the federal government to declare a national emergency on security and urgently come up with proactive strategies to restore peace and security to all parts of the country.
The leaders declared that if the security situation is not dealt with and banditry stopped or reduced to the barest minimum, it would not be feasible to have proper elections in 2023.
On the 2023 polls, the meeting called on the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties to zone the presidency, in 2023 to the south, while noting that the northern part of the country would have fully enjoyed the office of the presidency for the full statutory period of eight years by 2023, hence, the need for the office to come to the south.
According to the communiqué, the federal government should heed the genuine and reasonable nationwide calls for a transparent national dialogue and take urgent steps towards restructuring and birthing a new constitution; to bring back equitable harmony to the country.
The Forum also insisted that it is imperative to immediately restructure the country considering the precarious prevailing atmosphere before any further elections.
It reaffirmed its commitment to the unity of Nigeria, but stressed that it must only be sustained on the principles of equity, fairness and justice.
SMBLF, while condemning the cavalier attitude of the federal government towards the resolutions of the governors of southern states at their recent meeting in Asaba, the Delta State capital, as it pertains to the ban on open grazing and restructuring, insisted that cattle rearing is a generally private business enterprise, “as such, the federal government should avoid committing state resources to promote any particular business, beyond providing the enabling environment, in the performance of its regulatory roles”.
The Forum also extended its condolences to the families of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 other military personnel who died in the unfortunate military plane crash in Kaduna on 21st May 2021, and called on the military authorities to carry out a thorough investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the crash.
