Public affairs analyst and erstwhile Benue State gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Richard Mnenga, Esq., finds nothing wrong with the Northern States Governors’ Forum putting in place a regional security body with a view to resolving the numerous security challenges in the north.
In the first week of this month, governors from the 19 northern states of the Federation, at the joint meeting of Northern States Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council held at the Kashim Ibrahim House Kaduna, Kaduna State, resolved to set-up a regional Security Trust Fund to be funded with monthly contribution of One Billion Naira from each state and local governments to be deducted at source under a framework to be agreed upon, to help tackle insecurity in the region. Scores have argued that Benue State has no business contributing to the fund, as it would amount to funding “their killers.”
However, Mr. Mnenga, expressing his opinion on the subject, said what should be of concern is the sincerity of purpose of the governors.
“If the governors are sincere in what they are doing, this will, to some extent, resolve most of our challenges here. As evidently witnessed in Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani has sincerely vowed to tackle insecurity in the state, and it has, to an extent, yielded the required results because of his sincerity in the process. The reverse will not be the case if his colleagues emulate the same gesture,” Mr. Mnenga said.
“However, the monthly contribution of one billion naira by all the northern governors is outrageous,” he went on.
The erstwhile gubernatorial aspirant, in expressing his support for initiatives aimed at bringing a lasting peace in the north and Nigeria, urged state governors to consider local government autonomy as one of their main issues.
