-By Aideloje Ojo
-Minna
The Northern States Governors Forum has said that the region was not a parasite on other parts of the country.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger state Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu stated this yesterday in Minna when he received ‘the Peace and Development’ award bestowed on him by the Zumunta Zabi Son Ka Social Association in recognition of his peace and development initiatives in the country.
Aliyu said the North was made up of hard-working and serious-minded people who had contributed and are still contributing their quota to national development.
“We should reject the claim by some people that the North is a parasite on Nigeria. The North has shown capability to make the difference in the country before and after independence,” he said.
Aliyu challenged the people of the region to be more industrious by creating opportunities for employment and economic development of the states and the region.
On the insurgency that has hampered the economic growth of some parts of the North, the governor said no one should shelter members of the Boko Haram group, adding that shielding the sect members would be un-Islamic and a betrayal of the nation.
“Don’t pity Boko Haram.Anything they do will affect everyone not minding religion or tribe. No one prays for another civil war. Anyone that wants to cause it should be ostracised.”
The governor advised the North to unite against the insurgency because what was happening in the North was never thought of in past.
Aliyu challenged members of the association to assist in the image-laundering of the country because of their spread and acceptability by the people.
National President of the Association, Alhaji Ibrahim Jirgi Aliyu, in an address, said members of the group were waiting on Aliyu to direct them on whom to vote for in the 2015 presidential elections.
He said the association decided to honour the governor with the Peace and Development award “because of his ability to keep the diverse people of the state together peacefully, in addition to the development strides of the administration since 2007.”
