Ted Odogwu , Kano

The Coalition of Northern Groups on Sunday in Kano said that job opportunities meant for indigenes of the northern states had been hijacked by people from the South .

Briefing newsmen on the state of the nation , as it affected the North , the spokesman of the group , Abdulazeez Suleiman , lamented that northerners were being denied employment opportunities in the South .

According to him , all vacant positions available in the North , as guaranteed by the local content clause of the Federal character provision in the Constitution, had been surrendered to southerners, as a result of the negligence of the northern elite, who pose as political leaders of the region.

“ Whereas , the local content clause stipulates that all levels 01 to 06 positions in every government establishments must go to indigenes of the host communities in the North , the reverse is the case,’’ Suleiman said.

He also described the North as systematically crippled by multiple security challenges , which threaten the region’ s population and political unity , as well as inhibit its economic and social activities .

“ Recurring violence , involving cattle theft , abductions for ransom , attacks on civilian targets and other forms of banditry all over the North , poses a serious threat to peace and security, with the uncoordinated and inadequate responses by the Federal and state authorities , thereby deepening mistrust and perception of the authorities as biased ,’’ he added.

The coalition condemned the action of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State , who openly declared Rivers as a Christian state and went ahead to prove it by demolishing a mosque in Port Harcourt .

It said that the governor ’ s action was in breach of the guaranteed freedom of every Nigerian to practise their faith unhindered by any legislation or obstacle imposed by a state or a community .

Recalling another brutal encroachment of people ’s freedom by the Lagos State Government , the group accused the government of apprehending and humiliating dozens of northerners , who were seeking opportunities to lawfully run their businesses in the state , the same way people from other parts of the country carried out their respective trades of choice in the North .

In its resolutions , the group demanded from the Federal Government proof of its capacity to protect citizens in all parts of the North , as minimum evidence that it is serious about its responsibilities .

Source:- Punchng