North-Central geo-political zone has demanded fairness in the allocation of resources, saying they have been shortchanged since the return of democracy in 1999.
Niger State Governor and Chairman, North-Central Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Bello, disclosed this during his interaction with the North-Central Peoples Forum at the Government House, Minna.
Bello said the North-Central wants to be accorded its due respect and be fully compensated for its efforts during the election periods in the emergence of government at the centre.
“We are not asking for too much, but we are pleading that we should be treated fairly.
“Now, if we compare our efforts with the benefits, they do not match at all. We discussed this as governors and in some cases, we compared the results of each state as against appointments, projects and investments in the North-Central states,” he said.
According to him, if adequate attention is given to the zone, it will revive its economic activities and its enormous potentials for the overall benefits of the country.
He added that, henceforth, the region will ask whoever aspires to become the next president to meet and tell the region what offer he has for it.
The governor explained that despite their political differences in the zone, they must come together to decide the future for the country.
On insecurity, he said the North-Central is among the regions affected, adding that himself and his colleagues are tackling the challenges with the support of the President and security agencies.
He added that as measures to end farmer-herders clashes, all the states in the zone have been encouraged to adopt grazing reserves/ranching system to curb incessant encroachment of cattle on farms, which is responsible for igniting clashes between farmers and herders.
(The Punch)
