Don’t lose focus, Utomi urges members of NCF
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) leader, Shettima Yerima; and labour activist, Issa Aremu have urged Nigerians to support the newly formed political group, National Consultative Front (NCF) as a platform to save Nigeria from its woes.

Asserting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has failed to provide good governance in the country, they said there should be a rallying point for Nigerians to chart the way forward for good governance and socio-economic transformation of the nation.

Musa, Yerima and Aremu, leaders of the newly formed NCF, at a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, said that “it is time Nigerians accepted the reality that Buhari’s government has failed to provide the needed security, economic, social and political stability” and begin to look into a brighter future for the country.

Civil rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, also gave his support for the establishment of the political group. Musa said, “I am happy that the political group that will serve as a rallying point to address the present governance decay under this government has been established. This should be time for Nigerians to come together to confront President Buhari and tell him that enough is enough.”

Aremu said, “The enthusiasm that trails this new national initiative on nation-building should not be lost. Many compatriots are joining daily and hourly. Even those reported to have not been consulted have welcomed the new initiative.”

In the same vein, Yerima pointed out that “this is time for all Nigerians from all parts of the country to fight against injustices of this government.”
MEANWHILE, professor of political economy, Pat Utomi, yesterday asked the NCF to “focus on its duty” rather than lament over those who dissociated themselves from the group.

The NCF was unveiled on Wednesday. But less than 48 hours after, at least four of those listed as members distanced themselves from the group, saying they were not consulted during its formation.

Senior lawyers, Femi Falana and Olisa Agbakoba; former governor of Kaduna, Umar Dangiwa; and Senator Sani all said they were not part of the group.But in a statement addressed to the leaders of NCF, Utomi asked them not to apportion blames over what went wrong but concentrate on the task ahead.

“There are times in the life of an organisation or community when leaders, either from the bites of experience, or anxiety about uncertainty, hold back from a move whose moment has come. But followers jump at the appearance of some stimuli and all wake-up and find that the genie is out of the bottle,” he stated.