Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has called on academics and Islamic scholars across Northern Nigeria to deploy their knowledge and expertise in addressing the region’s worsening security, education and socioeconomic challenges.
Yahaya made the call during separate engagements with senior academics and women Islamic scholars held in Abuja at the weekend under the theme, “Consolidating the Renewed Hope Agenda: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Achievements and the Road to 2027.”
The engagements, organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Kabir Masari, brought together academics, women Ulamas, political leaders and senior government officials to deliberate on challenges confronting the North and assess policies of the Tinubu administration.
The governor, who is also Secretary of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said the region could not overcome its multifaceted challenges without harnessing the knowledge, research and experience of its intellectual community.
He identified insecurity, the rising number of out-of-school children, food security, vocational education, farmer-herder conflicts and peaceful coexistence as areas requiring sustained collaboration between government and stakeholders.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Ismaila Uba Misilli, on Sunday, Yahaya acknowledged the challenges confronting the region but said there had been gradual improvement since the Tinubu administration came into office.
He urged stakeholders to build on the progress through stronger collaboration with government to achieve lasting peace and stability.
The governor also challenged academics to contribute research-driven solutions to the problem of out-of-school children, stressing that government needed their expertise to develop interventions capable of addressing the crisis sustainably.
“We need to join our understanding with your perspective to deal with this situation,” Yahaya told the academics.
He equally advocated greater investment in vocational and skills-based education, saying it had been neglected for too long despite its potential to improve youth employability and promote self-reliance.
On farmer-herder conflicts, the governor called for greater commitment to peaceful coexistence, noting that stability was essential to agricultural productivity and economic development in the region.
He welcomed the creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development by President Tinubu, describing it as a bold policy initiative capable of addressing some of the longstanding challenges between farmers and herders.
Yahaya urged stakeholders to support the initiative and provide ideas that could contribute to its success.
“We need to benefit from your knowledge,” he told the academics, stressing the need for intellectual contributions to national development.
At a separate engagement with women Ulamas organised in collaboration with the Muslim Intellectual Forum, the governor highlighted the role of Islamic scholars in promoting peaceful coexistence, responsible parenting, moral values and social cohesion.
He said women scholars had an important role to play in strengthening families and communities amid growing social and economic pressures.
Yahaya also pledged that the consultations would be extended across Northern states to deepen communication with critical stakeholders and broaden participation in discussions around development and government policies.
Earlier, Masari said the engagements were established to provide a structured platform for government to regularly consult critical stakeholders on national development.
He said the meeting with academics was not primarily political but aimed at harnessing their academic contributions to help address Nigeria’s challenges.
Masari said mechanisms were being developed to sustain regular consultations between government and academics on policy and development issues.
