Time for assurances is over, Nigerians need action—Northern elders forum

By Abubaker Yunusa

The Northern Elders Forum(NEF), has declared that the time for government assurances on security challenges in the country has passed, insisting that Nigerians now need concrete and measurable action to end the worsening insecurity across the nation.

The forum’s spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday, expressing deep concern over what he described as the relentless collapse of security in many parts of the country.

According to the forum, no nation can claim meaningful progress when citizens live in fear, communities are constantly under attack, and criminal elements continue to operate with increasing boldness while law-abiding Nigerians remain vulnerable.

The NEF reminded the Federal Government that Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution clearly provides that the security and welfare of citizens shall be the primary purpose of government.

It noted that Nigerians are increasingly being forced to fend for themselves against kidnappers, terrorists, bandits and other violent criminal groups despite the constitutional responsibility of government to protect lives and property.

The forum observed that while Nigeria has faced several security challenges since independence, including the Civil War, militancy in the Niger Delta and the Boko Haram insurgency, the current situation is unprecedented due to the simultaneous spread of insecurity across virtually every region of the country.

It cited persistent attacks and abductions in states including Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Borno, Oyo, Edo, Enugu and Imo, among others.

According to the NEF, communities are being attacked regularly, farmers are abandoning their farmlands, businesses are struggling to survive and travellers continue to face dangers on major highways.

The forum also raised concern over the growing menace of kidnapping-for-ransom, describing it as a sophisticated criminal enterprise fuelled by weak law enforcement, illegal arms proliferation, porous borders and inadequate intelligence coordination.

“What began as isolated criminal incidents has evolved into a sophisticated criminal economy that exploits weak enforcement, porous borders, illegal arms proliferation, and inadequate intelligence coordination,” the statement said.

The forum warned that the consequences of the security crisis are becoming increasingly severe, with declining food production, collapsing rural economies, loss of investor confidence, disruption of education and growing poverty among affected families.

It further lamented that many communities continue to report inadequate security presence and delayed responses during attacks despite repeated assurances from government officials.

The NEF called for thorough investigations into illegal mining and other forms of resource exploitation which various reports have linked to insecurity in some parts of the country.

To address the situation, the forum urged the Federal Government to immediately declare a National Security Emergency and implement extraordinary measures to reverse the current trend.

Among its recommendations were the strengthening of intelligence coordination among security agencies, sustained operations against kidnapping and banditry networks, prosecution of sponsors and financiers of criminal groups, auditing of illegal mining activities, enhanced protection for farming communities and greater transparency in security spending.

The forum stressed that insecurity should not be viewed as a partisan, ethnic or regional issue but as a national emergency requiring urgent action.

“The time for assurances has passed. The time for measurable action is now,” the forum declared.

It added that history would judge leaders not by the promises they make but by the lives they protect, the communities they secure and the nation they preserve.