read by host governor Lucky Igbinedion, the governors remarked that one of the major factors responsible for the widespread security lapses in the country was their inability to take charge of crime control in their states.
"The recent experience of the governor of Anambra state, which was condemned in its entirety has further justified the long-drawn agitation for state police or constitutional amendments that would make the commissioners of police report to the governors in their respective state," they said.
On foreign debt, the governors said that some monies being deducted by the Federal Government on account of debts owed by states were not being remitted to the creditors. They said that the current situation whereby rumours do not know the exact amount owed their states was most undesirable and inimical to their economic interests.
The Southern governors noted the preparedness of the Federal Government to conduct a National Census in 2005, advising that the exercise should be hitch-free and accurate because "it is the most crucial basis for planning the healthcare, education, housing and other welfare-schemes."
Other governors present at the meeting were James Ibori (Delta) Achike Udenwa of Imo; Chris Ngige (Anambra) Donald Duke (Cross Rivers), Diepriye Alameiseigha (Bayelsa) Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia) Chimaroke Nnammani (Enugu)
There were also Olusegun Agagu of Ondo; Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo) Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun); Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) Gbenga Daniel (Ogun) and Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State.
Earlier in his address, Igbinedion had lamented the ordeal of Ngige whose security operative had just been restored last week by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun.
Igbinedion said that in such a situation the governors as Chief Security Officers could only function as toothless bulldogs. "The experience of our colleague in Anambra State, has further justified the long-drawn agitation for state police," he said.
He condemned what he said was the growing resort to violence as a means of seeking redress for perceived wrongs and achieving political advantage. According to him, this unavoidably leads to unconstitutionality and wanton destruction by anti-social and criminal elements in some parts of the country.
Igbinedion said; "The endemic nature of these problems calls to question the appropriateness or otherwise of the mythologies adopted by the Federal Government to address the issues. It is even more worrisome when the Federal Government with its paternalistic control of all security forces, seems impotent to decisively arrest the situation." The 19 Northern governors, who ended their peace summit, accused President Olusegun Obasanjo of attempting to sabotage its two-day conference.
The chairman of the 19 Northern Governors Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, told a crowd at the International Trade Fair Complex, venue of the summit that Obasanjo made desperate efforts to frustrate the organisation of the forum. He praised the people for the concerted effort to ensure that the talks were held.
Obasanjo was responsible for the absence of Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was only represented by the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Markarfi at the confab.
Turaki claimed that the foremost northerner in the administration of Obasanjo was at the dying minutes of the summit assigned to an HIVD/AIDS event in Abuja.
Said Turaki: "I also attribute the absence of all the ministers, about 25 of them from the North, to the President because none of them can say this conference does not affect him or concern him.
The governor said that since the conference was postponed six months ago, the Presidency had tried to stop it from taking place because it believed "we would come here to apportion blame to one another or tear the country apart."
He said that rather than divide us, the summit had become a milestone in the search for lasting peace in the North.
Several personalities delivered papers, at the event. Among them were the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, his Nasarawa State Counterpart Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) chairman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi and the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh.
Shekarau and Adamu stated that it was hypocritical to separate religion from politics, adding that all religions preach the virtues of peace, tolerance, fairness and justice, stressing that good governance was not in conflict with all these concepts.
In his paper, titled: "People of the North think," Shekarau said that "never in the history of this country has the North been as polarised as it is now," pointing out that "it is polarised along political, ethnic, religious and economic lines."
"The concept of the north and the Middle Belt, Adamu noted, is something we cannot run away from. Some of us believe that the attempt by the people of the Middle Belt region, also known as North Central Zone, to create their own identity is inimical to the northern interest.
"Its leaders are accused of attempting to divide the North. It seems to me that we have judged them without trying to find out what their problems or their worries are. This agitation has a long political history dating back to the years before independence," he said.
Adamu argued that the people of the Middle Belt made representation to the Willink Commission set up by the colonial authorities in 1957 to examine the fears of the minorities throughout the country, noting that "it would be wrong to say or suggest that this is a new political development."
Awoniyi and Ogbeh warned northerners on the present plight of the region, saying that there was need for a concerted effort to evolve comprehensive strategies to tap the abundant resources in the North.
But the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity yesterday in Abuja denied any efforts by the President to truncate the northern forum.
It said Governor Turaki's allegations were "untrue"
The statement explained that the President never issued the ministers any orders not to attend the forum.
"The allegation by the governor that President Obasanjo tried to sabotage the conference is most untrue and the claim that he was responsible for the absence of the Vice President and the northern ministers is also without any factual basis.
"Rather the facts of the matter are that the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) requested the President's attendance at the event and was advised by his office to invite the Vice instead because the President was not expected back from his official visit to Port Harcourt Rivers State until after the event on Wednesday, December 1.
The statement explained further: "After the invitation had been issued directly to the Vice-President by NACA, a change of plans occasioned by weather considerations forced the President to return to Abuja earlier than scheduled, at about 2a.m on Wednesday, and because of his great commitment to the campaign against HIV/AIDS, he chose to join the Vice-President at the event.
According to the statement, the president was however averse to gatherings like that of Kaduna State becaude "such a sectional gathering would usually give rise to other sections in the country gathering around tribal sentiments to further disintetegrate the unity of the country."
The statement went on: "Governor Turaki's allegations notwithstanding, President Obasanjo's misgiving and reservations about gatherings, which tend to polarise the country between North and South, remains very valid and the president has no apologies for placing national unity above all other sectional, group or individual interests," it stated.
