Despite Withdrawal, Northern Youth Groups Biker Over Quit Notice To Igbos

The Joint Action Committee of all Northern Youth Association (JACOM) has taken a swipe at  the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) which  had issued a quit notice to Igbos to vacate the northern region before suspending the notice subsequently.

JACOM while addressing newsmen at a press conference Friday in Kaduna said, the quit notice was issued without any consultation and that it was a sponsored agenda meant to destabilize the nation and over-heat the polity.

The press conference which was jointly addressed by Muhammad Isah Imam and Murtala Abubakar also accused the CNG of playing out a script with ulterior motives.

“Like we advised before now,  the Coalition of Northern Groups should desist from such grandstanding and acting a script. The youth of the north are interested in leaders that understand their problems and champion their cause.

“We appreciate the fact that they have realized their folly and retracted the so-called quit notice. In future they should consult with the youth on behalf of whom they claim to speak for rather than take them for granted.

“Let no one take the altruism and courtesy of  Arewa to mean cowardice or consent. We can bite as much as we are very accommodative ,but we believe in one Nigeria where all are respected and given their due respect, not using few misquided, uncultured and uncharitable group to heat up the polity by handling them favours”.

But in a swift reaction,  the spokesperson of the CNG Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said,  “as far as the Coalition of Northern Groups is concerned, the statement by that faceless group is nothing but an afterthought and out of place malice.

“While we have resolved not to be drawn into unnecessary controversies, we however challenge the group and or its sponsors to test their popularity with the northern public against the Kaduna Declaration.

“We challenge them to support their assertions with concrete facts by naming any individual or group or agency that sponsored any of our activities before, the Kaduna Declaration and after.

“We are aware of some political ascendency seekers who are not happy with the withdrawal of the quit notice as it gives credit to President Muhammadu Buhari for whose respect the Declaration was reviewed.

“We also know that these aggrieved politicians are sponsoring some fake groups to discredit the process as well as to distract our planned programme for mobilising all ethnic nationalities towards greater national integration and peaceful coexistence.

“It is funny that this faceless group did not have the courage to utter this warped viewpoint when the ovation was loudest.

“Even now we dare them to disclose their true identity to the Northern public for whose interests the Kaduna Declaration was made and see the response they would get.

“It is unfortunate that some people who claim to be northerners appear to be comfortable when the integrity of the region and that of its people and leaders is trampled upon” he stated.