ABUJA — Spokesman for the Northern Delegates Forum, NDF, Mr Anthony Sani, has asked the various governments in the country to separate religion and ethnicity or tribe from the ongoing fight against the activities of Boko Haram in a bid to eradicate terrorism in the country.
Sani said Boko Haram terrorists, who claim to be fighting for God, were in the minority in the country, pointing out that the sect merely uses religion to destabilise the country.
He was reacting to some of the issues in the National Conference.
On corruption, Sani who was national publicity secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, said: “I am not sure if the government and the confab are giving issues of corruption the needed attention. Rather, corruption is being allowed to be the basis of public policies.
“I give you an example. Removal of petroleum subsidy is not being done in the best interest of the people but being done to remove the sources of corruption in the management of petroleum subsidy. I see no wisdom in it.
“Instead of fighting corruption to a stand still, we seem to allow corrupt practices to overwhelm the polity and determine the direction of public policies.
“If you look at the reasons advanced against the Land Use Act in the constitution by the Committee on Land Tenure, you can hardly avoid the conclusion that they are based more on managerial imperfections and failure of leadership at all levels rather than on soundness of the law. They do this in blithe disregard for rthe fact that most of our good laws are observed more in the breach.
’’So, instead of allowing corruption to overwhelm us and blight our thought and vision about socio-economic development,we should fight it with our head, heart and hand to a stand still.
“To this end, corruption should attract capital punishment because it steals people’s empowerment, steals their opportunity and steals their future by out-sourcing such empowerment, opportunity and our future. Consider the number of schools and health institutions that would be built if the money were not stolen.
Security challenges
“The security challenges in Nigeria is serious because the challenges are all over the country. We have insurgence, kidnapping, armed robberies, militant activism, piracy, etc, to the extent the insecurity is trying to make some Nigerians reconsider our togetherness. I believe instead of allowing insurgence to set new national agenda for the nation, it is better we all come together and confront the evil.
“I say this because the sect merely uses religion to destabilise the country for whatever reasons and not that they are fighting for God who can fight His cause unaided.”
Vanguard