Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasized the importance of national unity in tackling the pressing challenges confronting northern Nigeria during a meeting with the Arewa Broadcast Media Practitioners Forum at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Yesterday.
Shettima underscored poverty and insecurity as the primary issues requiring immediate attention.
“These are more germane issues,” the Vice President pointed out, even as he also highlighted issues bordering on drug abuse and maternal mortality.
Painting a picture of a region facing multifaceted challenges, Shettima said: “The nation is gradually being bifurcated into a prosperous south and a north that is in the news for the wrong reasons. We need to unite as a people and address our common challenges.”
The Vice President said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appreciated the north and its history of sacrifice for the nation’s good.
He urged fairness and a deeper understanding of Tinubu’s contributions to the region, citing the Pulako initiative, a programme designed to address most of the challenges in the region as an example.
He said the North must either learn to live together as brothers.
On his part, Chairman of the Arewa Broadcast Media Practitioners Forum, Abdullahi Umar Yelwa, stressed the need for collaboration between government and citizens to engender participatory democracy.
He stressed the importance of “synergy in the collective efforts to move the country forward,” offering the forum’s partnership.
