The Northern Leaders of Thought (NLT) has convoked a “general assembly” for Saturday, January 15, over security challenges and the general state of affairs in the region.Blueprint gathered that the meeting, which neither has partisan nor religious tilt, will also seek to examine the relationship of the North with the rest of the country. 

According to the Northern Leaders of Thought (NLT), the meeting will hold on January 15, as the nation commemorates 56 years since the first military coup in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of many senior politicians and army personnel, especially from the North.

The leaders in an open invitation issued on Thursday night by its organising secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Usman Toro, invited the governors of states in the North, members of the National Assembly from the region, the Northern Elders’ Forum, organised Northern civil groups, and other stakeholders to the parley.The invitation is entitled ‘Meeting of Northern Leaders of Thought, 15th January, 2022, at Arewa House, Kaduna.”

The letter reads in part: “The Meeting will be a rare platform to examine the state of the North and its relationship with the rest of Nigeria.”“It is planned to encourage the development of ideas and recommendations that will improve the region’s state of security, economy, and political fortunes.

“January 15th is significant in Nigerian history because it was the date the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and many other Northerners and other Nigerians were murdered by military elements in 1966. The Arewa House accommodates the official residence of the late Sardauna of Sokoto.”