Former governor of Kaduna state and Senator representing Kaduna North, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, has said that the onus of ensuring peace in states ravaged by conflict and insecurity rested in the ability of governors whose responsibility “it is to intervene towards returning calm and stability to the troubled states.”
Makarfi stated this yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
He said it was the duty of governors and leaders of the troubled states to deliver on responsible leadership that is devoid of bias.
He, therefore, urged governors to be cautious of their utterances while attempting to intervene in conflict situations whenever they arise, noting that same had to a large extent an influence over whether crisis in further inflamed or abated.
He said: “I believe the problems we are having between farmers and the cattle rearers, the ethnic conflicts we are having in the middle belt part of this country is a less cantankerous issue compared to the insurgency. The major issue is the issue of the insurgence, as far as I am concerned.
“The governors and all the leaders in those respective states must give the needed responsible leadership. No governor should be seen to take sides in the conflict. If any governor, whether because he said so or his body language indicated that he had taken sides, would never be able to restore peace. People would continue to fight.
“So, I urge all the governors to watch what they say and what they do and how they even move that even their body language must be such that it would tell everybody that I am your governor for all and all of you I have the responsibility to safeguard your lives and property and I am here to do so.”
Makarfi added that the issues of insecurity created by communal clashes were local ones which needed the urgent attention of the state governors as against the federal government.
He said, “What the centre can do is to help in the deployment of security personnel that can help you to separate warring factions before you make the peace so that people can now live together. The responsibility squarely lies on those that govern those respective states.”
