By AMEN GAJIRA

The Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC) has presented a charter to guide the zone’s political leaders in their engagements with institutions concerned with the development of the zone.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the charter containing seven key points was presented in Kagoro, Kaura Local Government Area of the state.

Speaking at the presentation, chairman of the council, Mr Ishaya Akau, said the charter was to serve as a guide or blueprint for the development of Southern Kaduna.

Akau lamented that while the people of the zone had contributed immensely to the unity and progress of the country, the zone had nothing to show for it in terms of infrastructural development.

According to him, the time had come for the people of the area to work together and redefine their existence.

“If we don’t work together, we will continue to suffer together. But if we work together we will liberate ourselves.

“We will redefine our existence if we work together and we cannot redefine our existence without a blueprint,” he stated

While urging the people of the area to join as many political parties as possible, he charged them not to relegate the interest of the zone in all they did.

In their separate remarks, the Chairman of the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association, Apostle Emmanuel Kure, and the President of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, Dio Maisamari, said lack of a development blueprint had prevented the zone from realisng its potentials.

They enjoined members of the political class who emerge victorious in the 2023 elections to commit to the charter and abide by it.

They also encouraged political leaders in the area to imbibe the habit of returning home on a regular basis to give an account of their stewardship to the people.

In their various contributions, representatives of political parties and their candidates vying for elective positions in the zone, lauded SKLC for coming up with the initiative of the charter.

They pledged to take ownership of the document and use it as a template for moving Southern Kaduna forward.

NAN reports that some of the concerns of the people of the zone captured in the charter include education, health, infrastructure and industrialisation and security among others. (NAN)

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