WorldStage– President Bola Tinubu has declared that unless trust is rebuilt security challenges will persist and deepen economic stagnation as well as widen educational deficits.
He dropped the charge on Saturday at the 25th Anniversary (Silver Jubilee) of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the launch of the forum’s Endowment Fund in Kaduna, where he was represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen.
The President who admitted that the
insecurity troubles him more than anything else in Nigeria, however expressed his determination to eliminate terrorist and bandit groups in the North, and reverse the region’s economic decline.
In his address titled ‘A Generation Summoned by a Crisis,’ President Tinubu said that though his administration inherited the security challenges, he is working round the clock to address them with the urgency required.
He said, “Nothing troubles me more gravely than the security crisis bedevilling Nigeria, especially Northern Nigeria. Affliction in any part of the country is a setback for every part. We cannot prosper when one limb of the national body is paralysed.
“The layers and sophistication of the security challenges we inherited are daunting, but what should inspire confidence is the urgency with which my administration is pursuing solutions.”
The President stated that “there has never been a time when the North more urgently needed honest, courageous voices. Yes, there have been missteps. Yes, there have been moments of drift. But we cannot say the North has failed unless we abandon our responsibility to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
“We fail the day we sleep comfortably while millions sleep with empty bellies, the day fear becomes a permanent companion for travellers moving from one village to another.
“But let no one believe that hope is lost. The dysfunction inherited over decades fractured bonds and strained unity. Yet the ethnic and religious diversity gathered here today is a declaration of the collective resolve to overcome polarisation and resist any agenda designed to divide.
Speaking on the insecurity in parts of the North, the President said, “We are not only determined to ensure that terrorist and bandit groups tormenting the North are eliminated, we are equally committed to reversing the region’s economic decline.”
Noting that he has “unwavering optimism in the North’s promise,” President Tinubu stated that “I eagerly anticipate the day when the first tankers of crude oil from Kolmani and other Northern oil fields roll out.”
The President added that this is why his administration is accelerating critical road, rail, and river transport projects across the region, most notably the transformative Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Superhighway, which is billed for inauguration in Kano “in the coming months.”
President Tinubu emphasised that every generation is visited by a calling peculiar to it. “For some, it was to reclaim this nation from the restraints of colonial domination. For others, it was to design the architecture of a democracy that could hold our diversity together. For yet others, it was to define the moral and social character of a people emerging into modernity.”
He, however, posited that this generation has arrived at a time when Northern Nigeria faces “one of the gravest tests of its endurance, the corrosion of security, the erosion of communal values, and the distortion of the moral compass that once held communities as one family.”
He added: “We came at a time of a jarring rupture in the social ethics of a region whose stability is indispensable to our nation’s collective peace and prosperity. This is why we are here today, and I am honoured to stand with you for this sacred gathering of conscience and reflection.”
The President also noted that for 25 years, the ACF has stood as an enduring conscience of Northern Nigeria. “It has assembled patriots, brilliant minds, moral fortresses, and selfless negotiators whose dedication has ensured that the North remains a central pillar in every serious national conversation,” he said.
President Tinubu also stated that the ACF has not only advocated solutions to regional challenges, “it has fought for dignity, fairness, and equality for millions who call this vast region home.”
He said the Silver Jubilee is therefore a celebration of “courage, advocacy, and principled service by some of the finest voices the North has produced.”
