A former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo Jimeta, has been appointed pioneer chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Northern Elders’ Council (NEC).

The BOT of the council was inaugurated Friday at a brief ceremony in Kaduna.

The chairman of the council, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, named members of the board at the inauguration ceremony.

He said the board would serve the council in an advisory role and undertake other functions assigned it.

Members of the BOT include Colonel Habibu Shuaibu (Kano), General Zamani Lekwot (Kaduna), Alhaji Bala Saulawa (Katsina), Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu (Jigawa), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), Garba Nadama (Zamfara), Bello Halliru Mohammed (Kebbi), Shettima Mustapha (Borno), Mallam Adamu Waziri (Yobe), Dr. Hassan Adamu (Adamawa) and Ambassador Suleiman Zubairu (Taraba).

Others are Professor Manday Mowanvat (Plateau), Aliyu Akwe Doma (Nasarawa), Professor Jerry Gana (Niger), Mrs. Amina Ndalolo (Kwara), Atoza Ihida (Benue) and Ibrahim Idris (Kogi).

He charged the state governments in the region “to treat as a matter of urgency the formation of an agricultural master-plan to ensure self-sufficiency in food production, in order to address the problems of unemployment, poverty and insecurity.”

In his remarks, Jimeta said the council appreciated the federal government’s efforts towards tackling insurgency, noting that “the situation in our country dictates that all hands must be on deck.”