ACF needs to do more

The formation of the Arewa Consultative Forum on 7th March 2000 was a giant effort that raised both the hope of Northerners for a better future and the image of the region in the eyes of other Nigerians. It was, in fact, a clear reaction to some of the prevalent circumstances that were almost unanimously considered unfavourable or even outrightly harsh to the North.

Therefore, the 25th Anniversary celebration organised by the body, which lasted for three days, Thursday, November 20, to Saturday, November 22, 2025, was a perfect opportunity for a thorough review of its activities in order to develop an accurate scorecard that could serve as a basis for any kind of judgement on its performances. As an umbrella body that supposedly coordinates and champions all the multiple efforts towards the salvation of the North, the ACF is a structure that is continuously expected to courageously confront the crippling challenges bedevilling the people of the region.

The constitution of the Forum provides that it shall “foster and strengthen the foundation of Northern unity in the context of one Nigeria” as well as “set up machinery for regular dialogue to ensure that issues likely to cause breach of the peace are settled amicably and promptly.” It is also required to “establish linkages and contacts with political and community leaders” in the search for solutions to the problems in the North, promote issues that can strengthen peaceful co-existence among Northern communities, in addition to the enhancement of the educational and socio-economic status of Northerners.

However, the lingering political and socio-economic crises, all of which have birthed the heightening insecurity in the North, are a clear proof that the ACF is too constrained to carry out its mandate or just too negligent towards the attainment of the aims and objectives it set for itself at inception. The high rate at which the challenges are becoming more pronounced signifies a failure of the ACF to actualise its mandate.

This explains the consistent expression of dissatisfaction by most Northerners over the noticeable low performance of the body, with virtually every segment of the Northern population bitterly complaining about one aspect of the Forum’s failure or another. The complaints have seemingly amounted to a passage of vote of no confidence in a body that initially held a lofty promise for the entire people of the North.

In what appears as a self-indictment, even the ACF, more often than not, openly resorts to mere lamentation over the annoying situation in the North. Rather than work effectively to patch up the tears that have become quite visible all over the North, the Forum has turned itself into a helpless complainant just like other people it says it is speaking for.

Daily Trust is, of course, not unmindful of the constraints of the ACF as a non-governmental body that is deficient in terms of executive powers and funding. The existence of  bodies like the Northern Elders Forum, Northern Elders Council, Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation and others, all of which should have been part of the Forum to make it stronger and more effective, is another challenge for the body.

However, we still believe that the ACF could summon a lot more courage and go beyond lamentation. Its robust structure and well-defined mandate should enable it to quite competently contextualise the basic concerns of Northerners and engage relevant stakeholders for the purpose of charting a viable course for the region.

The recent 25th Anniversary celebration gave an opportunity for not only the usual lamentation but also an engagement with the Forum in a manner that should make ACF more alive to its responsibilities. The apparent trust deficit that characterises inter-relationships among Northern communities, economic decline, relative political upheavals and some other challenges necessitated both a sharp critique of the past activities of the Forum and a proposal for a better approach to the task ahead.

The presentation by a renowned intellectual and analyst, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, who was the guest speaker at the event, was, for example, a challenge that the ACF should take up. In the paper titled “Arewa in the Next 25 Years,” he traced the roots of the prevailing crises to poor governance.

By identifying rural-urban drift, religious hostility, population explosion, poverty, lack of opportunity for youths and educational backwardness as the causes of the problems in the North, and further advocating for the enthronement of credible political leadership as the core solution, Professor Ibrahim really hit the nail on the head. His advice that the ACF should work towards the emergence of people with “integrity, competence, democratic or civil rights” as leaders is totally sound.

The ability of the ACF to live this long is, no doubt, an achievement for which it deserves some cheers, especially considering its obvious deficiencies. Over the years, it has kept raising issues about some of those deficiencies with a view to attracting the attention of critical stakeholders.

Yet, the conclusion of a lot of observers that it has fallen short in the discharge of its responsibilities, to which this newspaper firmly subscribes, is valid and needs to be taken into consideration so that necessary improvement can be recorded. The time for the ACF to buckle up is now.

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