Fmr Minister of Finance, Adamu Ciroma Broke His Silence Yesterday Over North Security, Says Security Has Collapsed In North-East

After a long silence on issues bedeviling Northern Nigeria, Adamu Ciroma, the 79-year old Nigerian former Minister of Finance and ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, yesterday broke his silence saying security has collapsed in the troubled North-East region of Nigeria.

The Yobe State-born politician, who chaired one of the sessions at the ongoing North-East Economic Summit holding in Gombe State, also told all state governors from the zone to wake up from slumber. He asked the governors to invite all categories of people, including those he described as “Boko Haram looking people,” to see the urgent need to overcome the current insecurity responsible for the backwardness of the region.

The summit commenced barely 24 hours after Boko Haram militants renewed their terrorist activities by launching a daring attack on military formations in fortified areas of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in the early hours of Monday.

“Security has collapsed and you cannot farm, trade, you cannot do anything without security,” said Mr. Ciroma. He added: “All of you here are already well-to-do people, because God has enabled you to go to school to become what you have become. But the fact is that without peace, no production is possible, no economic improvement is possible.”

Mr. Ciroma, who spoke in an emotional tone, disclosed that the governor of his home state shunned him. “At the beginning of this year, I sent a friend to talk to the governor of my state, and I advised him and I am repeating before all of you, Your Excellencies. I advised him that he should call a meeting of all the traditional institutions in the area. With the learned people and with the Boko Haram-looking people, everyone who matters, each governor should call them for a meeting in the North-East. And [you have to] point out that the situation has worsened and they need peace, if they need peace and want to see things [done] properly. If they want to see improvement in agriculture, then all of them must agree to cooperate to re-establish peace in the area. The traditional rulers, the malams, everybody, Boko Haram-looking people, all of them should cooperate and establish peace so that security and peace will begin. Up to now, I have not heard from him. So you governors here, you have not heard from me, because if my governor didn’t hear me, why should I think you will hear me?”

The septuagenarian challenged the governors to concentrate more on empowering young farmers in the rural areas who are most vulnerable to the ongoing atmosphere of insecurity rather than the current emphasis on assisting only graduates of universities and polytechnics.

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