They faulted the 2014 National Conference put together by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
They said the recommendations must not be implemented.
The Northerners, mainly political office holders, said the Jonathan government had its agenda for setting up the confab and that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari could not work with the outcome of the 2014 conference.
The Northerners, under the aegis of the Northern Reawakening Forum, asked Buhari to convene a fresh National Conference specifically to address some pertinent issues affecting the North East and other parts of the region.
The position of the Northern leaders was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of their summit and retreat.
It was with the theme: “Rebuilding a safe, secure and economically inclusive Northern Nigeria.”
The Chairman of the NRF, who is also a former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Mohammed Umara Kumalia, read the communiqué in Abuja.
Kumalia said in the communique: “The North has the highest number of people below $2.00 a day; 71.5 per cent of the population in the North-East live in poverty and more than half are malnourished. A 2013 World Bank Report showed that poverty in 16 out of the 19 Northern states have doubled since 1980.
The North has the lowest literacy rate in the country. Lagos is at 92 per cent, Kano 49 percent and Borno less than 15 per cent. Sixty Five per cent of Northern girls and 53 per cent of boys are not in school compared to only 20 per cent for the South-East.
“We call on the Federal Government to convene a National Conference for the development of the North-East to put together a short, medium and lon-term vision for the development of the zone. The last National Conference was convened by the Peoples Democratic Party government. You do not expect this (All Progressives Congress) government to take hook, line and sinker what was put in place by the last government.
It was convened by the PDP government and unfortunately the PDP lost the election. You do not expect the opposition then (APC) to accept the resolution of the previous government, which had its own objectives and of which this government is not aware.
“What are the problems in the North-East? Has anybody tried to ascertain the problems in the North-East? The essence of the national conference is to analyse the extent of damage done to the North-East. The working document would be used to rebuild the region. There is no resemblance between the conference we are proposing and the 2014 National Conference. Many things have been
destroyed and we need people with experience to discuss how the area will be settled.”
Northerners in the NRF include Jack Yakubu Pam from Plateau State, the NRF’s Deputy Chairman; Alhaji Tajudeen Dantata, a businessman; Aliyu Ahmed Wadada, former Member of the House of Representatives; Aisha Dukku, a former Minister of State for Education and currently a member of the House of Representatives; and Mallam Saidu
Malami, a former Commissioner in Nassarawa State.
Others are Alhaji Adamu Modibbo; Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar, a former Executive Secretary, Petroleum Trust Development Fund; Salam M.K. Ahmed, a former Director General of the Pension Commission; Suraj Yakubu, a former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission; Dr. Bilkisu Magoro; Hajiya Amina Jambo; and Hajiya Fatima.
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