Food Is Becoming Difficult On Our Table – ACF

Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has reiterated its calls that citizens are suffering as a result of the economic policies of the federal government.

The Secretary General of ACF, Murtala Aliyu, said while they engage state governments in the North on the need to provide good governance, economic policies are made by the federal government.

Aliyu stated this on Friday in an interview with Arise TV.

He noted that ACF is not completely blaming the national government, but the hardship affecting the citizens resulted from the federal government’s policies.

“We’ve made our statements previously. We’re still making our statements today, the persons on the street really complaining. They are suffering. Food is becoming difficult on the table. People are finding difficult to move, even to go to work. These are realities on the ground, but the government has explained, and it’s government’s responsibility to tell us when this will be eased. And so as ACF, we will continue to have government that people are complaining, that people are suffering, they have to know that this is a happening,” he said.

Speaking on ACF‘s engagement with political leaders in the North on the need to provide good governance, Aliyu emphasized the need for the government at all levels to discharge their responsibilities effectively.

“Well, first of all, let me say that we engage the governors at the governor’s forum level. We also engage the governors at the individual level. We also engage the traditional rulers and where there is a responsibility at the sub-national level, we bring their attention to that. We’re not totally blaming the national government for all the wars in the country. Just like the North, any part of the country will have to wake up at sub-national level to do the right thing.

“So the federal government will complement those efforts. But economic policies, are actually defined by government at the center, and if things are going right or wrong, the center should address it. At a micro level, the state governments or the governments at the national level will handle that, and we are talking to them.

“So we’re not saying we’re heaping all the blame on one person or one or one location. No, we’re saying all people at each level should wake up to their responsibility and also be aware that the people at the grassroots are complaining, and so we expect to see the promises government made that changes will come soon, and the circle will come to the people,” Aliyu added.