The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has appointed a former Minister of State for Health, Gabriel Aduku, as the new chairman.
Aduku, an architect, who served in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, would lead the affairs of the forum for the next three years.
He hails from Kogi State and holds the traditional title of Amana Ogohi 1, Ata Igala of Igala Kingdom. The current Secretary General of the forum, Murtala Aminu, retains his position.
At the event, which was held yesterday, the outgoing ACF Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbe, said that politics alone was not viable to get the North out of poverty saying, the region must get it more involved in commerce and industry.
Ogbe said, “The North is an agricultural area, if we can add more value before we sell our goods, there is no reason why people will come here, buy hibiscus (zobo) package and export to Mexico and sell for $38million when we are sitting here doing nothing.
“There is no reason why they should buy our sesame seeds, our gum arabic, our yams and our soya beans and export because there is no reason why we cannot export ourselves because politics alone is not a viable industry, we must get it more in commerce and industry.”
He thanked the members of the outgoing executives for their commitments and sacrifices and wished the incoming executives the same or even more.
