European Union (EU) Thursday said it was set to deploy its expertise in engaging the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on how to arrest the current insurgency by Boko Haram, which has led to the kidnapping and killing of foreigners in some part of the North.
The EU delegation, which had earlier met the Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, also visited the ACF at its secretariat in Kaduna to deliberate on how to combat the insecurity in the North.
The Ambassador and Head of EU Delegate to Nigeria, Mr. David Macrae expressed the interest of the European Union to engage efforts in bringing solution to the insurgency ravaging the North.
Macrae said: “I have a special interest on how we could engage with the North, and I believe anything we want to do has to be with the executives of ACF, it has to be with you.
“Within you are covering a range of the political spectrum, there might be the PDP and other parties but as a group you are non-partisan. I have conferred with top northern politicians and they pointed me in your direction and I was told if you want to engage with the North it has to be with ACF, other groups may come forward but you have a special position”.
Ambassador Macrae also contended, “the North is a very large part of this country, but we must not allow a tiny part of the group to carry us towards the area that we don’t want to go, we have to address the issues, that is the important thing.
“In the last few months we are particularly interested in what we might bring forward in the EU about these issues. There are also some members of the EU that have tiers with Nigeria in many areas, but there are things we can do collectively as EU. We are in serious discussion with the national authority in a short, medium and long terms”.
Earlier, the National Publicity Secretary to ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani traced the history of the insecurity bedeviling some parts of the North to the coming of democracy, stressing that it came with a lot of freedom.
“All these started when democracy came about, you know democracy came with a lot of freedom, before now we were under different military regimes, but immediately democracy came, there were problems and the North started experiencing ethnic strife and religious strife.
“We support any attempt to address the issue of insecurity in particular, because it is a situation that transcends national boundaries as it concerns the European Union, the Americans because it transcends national boundaries.
“Also in order to maintain the unity of this country, we extend visits around the country, we have gone to the South East, we have gone to the South west and we will soon go to the south east. The need for this is to break barrier so that we can understand ourselves.
“Under the present problem, we have said our position is dialogue because all over the world the force has not been found to work anywhere, so why don’t we try dialogue, because if force has failed, then we certainly need to look for another alternative,” ACF National Publicity Secretary added.
Nguardian
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