The chairman Nigeria Governors Forum and governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amechi has said that if leaders in Nigeria want peace they must work towards sustainable development and ensure equitable distribution of resources.
Amaechi who was a guest speaker at the first graduation ceremony of Abdulsalami Abubakar Institute for Peace and Sustainable Development Studies (AAIPSDS) noted that peace in Nigeria is ideological and class oriented.
He posited that the elite’ often conceptualized peace to suit their purposes, even as the political class was oblivious of the economic realities of the country.
The chairman of the governors forum said that Religious difference will come to play when the political class have differences in their sharing formula declaring, “when you see difference in religion there is a particular political undertone “ I was in Jigawa for the governor’s child wedding, I was in the mosque and my former leader here was also in the church for a wedding nobody see religious difference”.
The governor said the situation has been made worse by the mono product status of the country’s economy which has pitched the various regions and states against each other.?
He said that it is even worse that the Federal government wield enormous power and “made the centre a dispenser of patronage and rent”.
He said leaders must adopt a more consultative approach to governance because the people have the power to hire and fire in democracy.
Amaechi said for the people to know their right they must be educated, education he added needed more intervention in the north for equitable reasons.
On this premise he said that the federal government should make special intervention fund available to tackle education problem in the North and bridge the gap between privileged and under privilege people of the region.
Also in the same vein, the governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu advocated for an intervention fund that will tackle education and other socio-economic challenges facing the North.
The governor who is the chairman of the Northern State Governors’ Forum supported Amaechi’s suggestion, but noted that to tackle the problem in the region poverty and other socio-economic challenges must be tackled.