Let’s Salvage the North,Governor Shettima tells leaders

From Femi Oyelola,Kaduna

Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has called on the northerners to come to the rescue of the region, irrespective of their religion and ethnicity in other to return it back to its lost glory.

He stated this in an address he delivered at Northern Stakeholders Interactive meeting of the All Progressive Congress (APC) held in Kaduna over the weekend.

Governor Shettima who spoke on behalf of the other APC governors at the venue, said it is time for the region to summon courage and come together, to salvage the country, as Nigerians go into another round

of election next year, adding that the north has the number and was in a position to make or mar the future of this country.

According to the governor, the north in the best of times was the least in all indices of economic development, let alone now that insurgency is ravaging some parts of the region, saying that “we are now the poorest of the poor. Poverty has no religion, it has no ethnicity, therefore, we must reach out to other parts of the country,

so that by 2015, other Nigerians can join forces with us to salvage the country.

“We must not fight over political offices within the party. We must not allow our aspirations as individuals to jeopardize our collective resolve to salvage the country. We have the number and we are in the position to make or mar the future of the generation yet unborn in this country.

“The north is in shambles. Citizens have become refugees in their country. There is need to produce the next President from the north. But this is not without challenges, requiring vigilance and courage.

There is need to bury our differences and become united to confront the challenges ahead. If we can summon courage to come together irrespective of our religious and ethnic differences, we are poised to forming the next government, come 2015.”