Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has stressed that the solution to insecurity and other challenges facing northern Nigeria lies in uniting the region under a strong political platform that controls the “instruments of power and coercion.”
Speaking on Channels Television on Monday night while discussing opposition politics and the current political climate, Lawal argued that without control of the military, insurgency and banditry would remain intractable.
“If you don’t control the military, there’s no way you can coerce them into doing the right thing with the insurgency and the bandits, whatever name we like to call them,” he said.
“It is important that we get the instruments of power as northerners in the hands of somebody who understands the issues facing us and who will face it headlong and bring a solution to it.”
Lawal disclosed that a coalition of influential northern politicians outside government, operating under the banner of the Nigerian People’s Consultative Political Forum (North), has been meeting to discuss strategies for regional unity.
He said the group had resolved to vote as a bloc in future elections, supporting only a candidate northerner or southerner who grasps and is committed to solving the North’s problems.
The former SGF revealed that the group ultimately settled on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the most viable platform to achieve its objectives, with prominent political figures such as Amaechi, Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar involved in the broader consultations.
“At the national level, quite a lot of the most significant ones are Amaechi, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar. I’m sure there are others there who have not yet thrown in the towel,” he said.
Asked if he had personal political ambitions, Lawal dismissed the idea with characteristic bluntness.
“Nobody will vote for me. My guy said, ‘Even my wife will not vote for me. you will not bend, you will not negotiate’. To me, black is black, white is white. There’s no gray color to me,” he said.
