Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday called upon the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to unite in solidarity with President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”
He stated that the current moment demands Northern leaders stand together to support the administration’s efforts to extricate the nation from its current economic and social difficulties.
He made the appeal during an audience with an ACF delegation led by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Bashir Dalhatu, at the Presidential Villa.
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Shettima urged the region’s apex socio-cultural organisation to resist the attempts of “a few mischief makers” seeking to fragment Nigeria’s unity.
He differentiated between greed and grievance, arguing that while some agitations are fueled by a genuine pursuit of justice, others are driven by the desire to exploit disorder for selfish gain.
Shettima stated that the administration’s responsibility is to discern the difference, embrace legitimate calls for equity and inclusion, and “isolate the forces that seek to profit from chaos.”
“We have proven, time and again, that our diversity is our strength… This is why we must continue to resist all attempts to divide us or stir mischief among us,” he stressed. “Our future depends on unity, and unity must remain our creed.”
Addressing claims of marginalisation, Shettima guaranteed that under the Tinubu administration, every group, every community, every faith, and every voice finds its place in the national conversation.
He stated that no group will be marginalised, and policies are designed to create opportunities for all through “inclusion, education, and enterprise.”
Acknowledging the current state of the North, which he described as a “geography scarred by insecurity, mistrust, and economic decline,” he assured the delegation that the government is theirs and their interests will always be represented.
Shettima outlined deliberate steps to revive the region’s fortunes, focusing on the Renewed Hope Agenda’s four pillars for Northern revival: education, agriculture, industrialisation, and security.
He noted that through reforms and the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), millions of students from the North now have access to tertiary education, and the administration is expanding vocational and technical training centres.
Shettima stated that the government is moving beyond subsistence farming to large-scale commercial ventures, building agro-processing industries, investing in microfinance, and establishing industrial zones in states like Kano, Kaduna, and Sokoto to attract key sectors like textiles and leather.
He affirmed that national security remains the top priority. “Through coordinated security operations, we have neutralised notorious bandit leaders and restored relative stability to once-besieged communities,” he said.
Speaking, Dalhatu commended the Tinubu administration for its bold reforms and praised the Vice President’s commitment. “We are proud of what you are doing as Vice President as well as the work and achievements of this administration. You are doing a good job of assisting the President in running the affairs of the country in difficult times,” Dalhatu said.
He explained that the forum’s visit was to express solidarity with the government and formally invite the Vice President to its upcoming 25th-anniversary celebration.
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The ACF intends to use the anniversary to launch an endowment fund to drive socio-economic development in the region and to interact with other socio-cultural organisations nationwide.
The Chairman of the National Executive Committee of ACF, Mike Osuman, also pledged the organisation’s full support for the actualisation of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
