Abdulraheem Aodu
10 October 2008
Kaduna — Despite the controversies surrounding his state of health, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has declared President Umaru Musa Yar'adua healthy, fit and capable of leading Nigeria towards attainment of growth and development.
ACF made the declaration in Kaduna yesterday in a communiqué after its National Executive Council meeting.
National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Anthony Sani, who signed the communiqué, said while Nigerians have the right to know the state of health of their lea-ders, the undue pressure brought to bear on the president on ac-count of his health is unhelpful.
He said, "The meeting noted reports in the media and else-where about the health of the President, Alhaji Umaru Yar'a-dua. While the Forum believes that Nigerians have a legitimate right to know what their leaders do with the mandate given them, it regretted that the undue pressure being brought to bear on the president on account of his health alone is unhelpful. Contrary to the insinuations of the critics, the ACF believes that the President is capable of discharging the duties of his office."
ACF, which appealed for support and solidarity for the president to excel in his Herculean task, added, "The Forum urges all Nigerians to remain positive and give the president their total support, cooperation and encouragement in order for him to do more and achieve more."
Speaking on the prospects of the various conferences and seminars targeted at improving the northern Nigerian economy, ACF said, "The Forum also considered and welcomed the various conferences and seminars being organized for the purpose of drawing attention to the deteriorating conditions in the North and for identifying possible strategies for addressing it. It hopes these interventions will galvanize all northerners at individual and government levels into taking necessary actions.
"We face daunting challenges. The North is not just falling behind its neighbours in virtually all indices of development; it is regressing rapidly into abject poverty. Northerners must at all costs arrest the decline of their region back into the dark ages.
"Regrettably, information available to the ACF indicates that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies of government around the country have studiously been reluctant to use the Commodity Exchange for purchase of grains for the development of our commodity industry generally.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
