The Northern Governors Forum, comprising governors of the 19 Northern states on Thursday met in Kaduna over the state of the nation.

The meeting also included traditional rulers from the region.

According to reports, only governors of Borno, Benue, Kano and Zamfara states who are visiting President Muhammadu Buhari in London were absent.

The meeting also discussed the disturbing insecurity occasioned by the farmers, herders’ clashes as well as the problem of the girl-child education in the North.

Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari said the regional governors and the monarchs would make the North’s stand on restructuring known after the two-day meeting on Friday.

He urged those clamouring for the restructuring of the country and other agitators to do so within the ambit of the law of the land.

Shettima took exception to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra.

He said another problem is Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, which had resulted in the “massive destruction of lives and communities’ property, mass displacement of persons, threat to food security and social dislocation arising from the forced and sudden emergence of thousands of orphans and widows.”

“There are also the deeply rooted issues of child destitution thrown up by the Almajiri system, alarmingly fallen standard of public education system, youth employment and restiveness, drug peddling and abuse, and sectarian violence,” he added.

Shettima said, “We must wear our thinking caps to find immediate and lasting solutions to these teething problems otherwise we will get drowned by them.”

Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, in his welcome address, expressed concern over the continued insecurity in the North.

“The frequency and savagery of communal clashes in some of our states, and the prevalence of untoward phenomena such as rural banditry, cattle-rustling and kidnapping need to be tackled,” he added.

Emir and chiefs who attended the meeting include, Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III; Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai El-Kanemi; Emir of Gwandu, Maj. Gen Muhammad Bashir (retd.); Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II; Emir of Bauchi, Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu; Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Usman; and Etsu-Nupe, Dr. Yahaya Abubakar.