The Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s effort has been praised by the leadership of the Arewa Youths Coalition for Peace and Political Development and the Northern Elders Progressive group towards sustaining the fight against insecurity challenges bedeviling some parts of the northern region, particularly the Northwest zone.

This was the position of the groups at the end of their 8th joint meeting held in Kaduna on Thursday.

Reading from the seven-point communiqué, the convener of the joint meeting, Hon Yusuf Abubakar, flanked by Yasir Ramadan Kano, representative of the youth group, and Mustafa Aliyu Dutsin-Ma, representative of the Elders Group, said, “It is time for our political leaders, elites, and those in authority who are of northern extraction to come together and bring lasting solutions to the numerous challenges facing the region.

“Unarguably, the development has retarded our collective progress, unity, cohesion, and development, because unity, peace, and development of our dear North must be non-negotiable and sacrosanct to ensure cohesion and political understanding amongst all Nigerians.

“There must be a way to bring all our political leaders together, united and committed to the development in the best possible way of going against hatred, mudslinging, and mischief that’s destroying our collective interest of one nation, particularly the North.”

The groups also called for the region to confront issues like disunity, insecurity, and economic challenges and come together by putting politics, religious, and ethnic differences aside.

“It is very painful that some of our clerics have discarded the moral character of teaching and abandoned the exemplary wisdom of preaching the truth by becoming more like entertainers in discussing matters affecting political unity, security, and the survival of the country without recourse to reality.

“We want to appeal to our revered clerics to stop creating unnecessary tension as a result of their unguarded utterances, which are capable of inciting and destroying the peace of others.

“They should rather allow professionals to speak on issues they know little or nothing about just because they have the platform.

We have keenly observed that the majority of them are becoming tools of propaganda and mischief, using vulgar language in their Sunday and Friday sermons.

“It is disheartening that many clerics who cannot afford to travel outside their domains are becoming so desperate to circulate misinformation or lies against particular issues of security, politics, and social life affecting others outside.

“They were intentionally misled or coerced into believing mischievous posts on social media aimed at destroying others intentionally with political motivation, without investigations or finding time to verify the authenticity or reality of the truths about them.

“We also reject in totality the recent allegations made by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Military Head of Niger Republic, against Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of conniving with France to destabilize his country.

“We see such unguarded utterances as irresponsible, lacking decorum, and unpresidential. These are baseless allegations capable of overheating the politics in our country.

Our stance on this saga is total support and endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, especially with his giant strides of positive development, ensuring political unity, security, and restoration of peace in our troubled zone, i.e., the North.

“We call on the President of the Niger Republic to tender an immediate apology to Nigeria and stop creating the tension of disunity between the two brotherly nations that have a common historical understanding, unity, and regard for each other decades ago.

“We want to caution some groups hiding under ulterior motives to refrain from fanning embers of hatred, considering its consequences for our collective survival as a people and nation in general.

We must be patriotic and responsible on issues affecting our national growth, unity, and respect.

“It is germane to commend Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser to President Tinubu, on his ceaseless efforts towards ensuring security and peace across the country, particularly in our region, through kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.

“These have led to improved stability and security in some of the deserted areas, due to constant attacks and insecurity challenges.

However, we urge Mallam Ribadu to use his good office and bring an end to bandit kingpin Bello Turji’s nefarious reign of terror in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina states, respectively.”