Most northerners can no longer afford a square meal a day—-Arewa groups cries out

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has lamented the lingering insecurity and socio-economic challenges plaguing the region, stating that most people in the North can’t afford a single square meal daily.

The coalition revealed this at a one-day community engagement held in Katsina under the chairman Professor Sani Abubakar Lugga, the fifth Wazirin Katsina.

The theme of this programme was: “Imperative of Popular Participation in Tackling Socio-economic Challenges Bedeviling Nigeria Through Community Solutions.”

While speaking to reporters, the Coalition’s National Coordinator, Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, said the North is walking with its two legs hence the need to find a lasting solution to the problem.

He stressed that the time of lamentation is over as virtually all Nigerians know that the country is bedevilled by a serious problem.

“People can no longer afford three square meals. We are not even talking about the three square meals, people cannot afford a single square meal per day.

“Insecurity is walking with its two legs in the North. So these are the reasons we have seen, and we have come to realize that, the leaders are not even ready to address the problems and to some extent, not only the leaders but even ourselves we have a contribution to do so that at least we can get ourselves out of this quagmire.

“So, the CNG decides after the stakeholders roundtable held in Abuja to engage community people so that each and every member or stakeholder in the community will get to know how to contribute their quota towards alleviating insecurity, economic hardship, and all other crises bedeviling the North.

“The main target here is the community to know how they can contribute to alleviate the problem bedeviling the region. The participants mostly leaders of various organizations are carefully selected. After this meeting, we will mandate the leaders to go back and summon their members and tell them all the information they have gotten here,” he said.

Charanchi noted that all the problems facing the country including corruption, insecurity, economic hardship, and dilapidation in the infrastructure in the education sector, and health sector, among others point to the fact that there is a leadership crisis.

“In as much as we can get it right, we can get the right leaders, we can get the leaders that have the country at their heart, we can get the leaders that have human feelings, we can get the leaders that act like messengers of God, we can get the leaders that will treat this country as they are going to treat their family definitely we will get it right.

“It’s very unfortunate we don’t have leaders in this country. All we have in this country are politicians and the problem with politicians. They always care about how to secure the next election. But a true leader cares about how to secure the next generation.

“It’s a waste of time to call on leaders to change because I doubt much if our leaders have fear of God. I doubt much if our leaders believe there is something we call hereafter, I doubt much if our leaders have something we call humanity, and I doubt much if our leaders believe that service to humanity is a service to God.

“We have self-centered leaders that believe in enriching themselves and looting the treasury.