The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), an influential organization representing northern Nigeria, has announced the donation of N100 billion endowment fund, to finance community development projects in the region. The financial initiative was announced by the Vice Chairman of the BoT, Ambassador Ibrahim Mai-Sule.
The commitment was announced to mark the 25th anniversary of the forum, with the intention to address the socio-economic and political crises currently facing the North.
The ACF was established in 2000 by a coalition of influential Northern Nigerian figures, including traditional rulers, retired military officials, and political leaders, with the goal of providing a unified voice for the region within the ever evolving democratic landscape of Nigeria.
The organization seeks to advocate for solutions to pressing issues like pervasive poverty, high unemployment rates, and the huge number of out-of-school children, in Northern Nigeria.
The announcement of the endowment fund comes due to the security and humanitarian crises affecting the region, including banditry and insurgency, compounding its existing developmental deficits.
Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees, led a delegation to the Media Trust Group headquarters to outline the forum’s plans.
We are hoping to use the 25th anniversary of our existence to bring together people of all walks of life in Nigeria, but more particularly in the North, to sit and take stock of our situation, which now is in a very dire condition – Alhaji Dalhatu
He acknowledged the group’s foundational role in mitigating conflicts during the early 2000s and stressed the current gravity of the problems faced by the region.
The fund is intended to move the forum beyond mere advocacy to direct intervention in grassroots development.
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