Barau: Tinubu firm in his support for North’s development
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained unwavering in his support for the interests and development of Northern Nigeria, stating that the region has never submitted any request to him without receiving prompt attention and concrete action. Speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) […]
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained unwavering in his support for the interests and development of Northern Nigeria, stating that the region has never submitted any request to him without receiving prompt attention and concrete action.
Speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kaduna on Saturday, Barau said Tinubu has consistently demonstrated goodwill towards the North, backing key interventions in security, agriculture, and education, and responding swiftly to issues affecting the region.
He said the North must acknowledge and leverage this presidential support to resolve its longstanding challenges, especially those related to insecurity.
The First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament emphasised that the President’s attentive ear and willingness to act had placed the region in a unique position of advantage within the current political landscape.
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He said the worrisome projections contained in a trend analysis presented at the ACF’s event by Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, titled “Arewa in the next 25 years,” will not materialise.
“As long as we put our heads together, we shall take our region and indeed help the country towards prosperity. This is doable. As I said, ACF has a lot to do. Please facilitate this kind of arrangement. Facilitate this forum,” he said.
To address the problem of insecurity in the Southwest, he said stakeholders in the zone came together to form Amotekun, and they successfully dealt with the issue.
“Now, as we speak, the southwest is the safest part of this country, and we can do that here; it’s doable. Therefore, there’s a need for all our leaders to come together, including the governors and all of us.
“Let’s sit together and work on finding solutions to our problems. And we are even lucky, the president of this country is somebody who listens to us. We have never taken anything to do with the north, to him, in terms of finding solutions to our problems; he has not listened, and he has not assisted. He is willing to work with us. Whatever we take to him in terms of our needs, he will definitely do it.
“Therefore, let’s try to leverage on the increased revenue that our governments, the sub-nationals are getting, leverage on what we can do in the National Assembly, because whatever we think we can, I mean in terms of finance, we can always contribute our own quota in terms of funding to whatever resolve we’ve taken to deal with the problem of insecurity we have in the northern part of this country.
He urged northern leaders to come together and take full advantage of increased revenues now accruing to subnational governments, noting that the National Assembly stands ready to support initiatives that can strengthen security and promote development across the region.
Barau emphasised the need for closer collaboration between northern governors, lawmakers, and the ACF leadership, saying such synergy would help refine existing strategies and produce results similar to those in other regions that have successfully confronted their security challenges.
He also urged the ACF to actively convene and coordinate regional security discussions, lamenting that several previous meetings were held without inviting top federal lawmakers. “Invite us,” he said. “We can influence funding. We can give weight to these initiatives.”
While congratulating the ACF on its Silver Jubilee, he said the next phase of the Forum’s work must focus on mobilising the region’s collective strength, reaffirming its resilience, and partnering with a President who remains firmly aligned with the North’s aspirations.