Is North Nigeria A Recalcitrant Behemoth?

Gone are the days when one’s stomach would turn, and his head would heat up with rage, when Nigerians from other parts of the country point to the north as the bane of the nation’s development. Before now, education was used mostly as an index for that justification, but today, the indices of virtually all other sectors have joined in as ready data; poor enough to belittle the once glorious, prestigious and virtuous savannah called the North.

The elephant in the room of this conversation is the insecurity ravaging the region, and it has become our code or culture. For almost two decades, terrorism has taken control of our lives and has virtually become our livelihood, and the north has definitely reached its nadir, and it cannot sink any lower. This is evidenced by the avalanche of scorn and invectives visited upon the dearly beloved and blessed soul of the Sardauna, the King of the north that we all so prided ourselves on. Either history is being rewritten, which is quite ominous, or the people have lost their way so badly that they curse their ancestors, which is even worse.

“Tinubu does not have a plan for the north!”… and I usually wonder, whose plan it ought to be after all! Isn’t the north supposed to have come to the merger table in 2014 or in 2023 with its plans and blueprints? Didn’t the Buhari administration have a plan for the north? Isn’t it simply a “dust-off” of that plan and vigorous action to ensure its progression and continuity? The southwest, as a core partner in the APC merger of 2014, had a vision of what it wanted from the merger and went on a mission to not only utilise but also maximise the opportunities it had in the merger, through ministerial and extra-ministerial platforms to pursue its development. For the north, all I remember is the fierce battle for the seat of the Vice-Presidency between the northwest and the North east, and after that, there has not been a clear-cut vision for the north.

At least President Tinubu has completed Buhari’s AKK pipeline and is continuing with the Kano-Katsina-Maradi rail project. The Sokoto-Calabar super highway is also a work in progress. The eight-year North-Eastern Vice Presidency from 1999 to 2007 did not provide the North-East with a comprehensive interstate road network, and neither did the eight-year Buhari tenure from 2015 to 2023 provide the North-West with a simple Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressway. Sadly, when the north has power, its gains fritter away into individual aggrandisement rather than into a regional development plan or agenda. The debate scorecard about how the North handles power, especially in the Fourth Republic, has been abysmal.

The import of this article is that northerners have to navigate gossip blogs, rumour mills, frivolous sites, and entertainers, which is missing from the collective outrage and action towards the insecurity and economic depreciation of the north. This is what flummoxes me. The misplacement of priorities is in full glare, just as the wanton pursuit of stupendous wealth to the detriment of society’s well-being. These twin vices have taken centre stage, just behind terrorism itself. Our menfolk have been emasculated by the womenfolk’s vanities and the 21st-century generation’s inanities. The north is more active today in the challenges and trials of a young polygamous couple, as opposed to the terrorism induced predicament of the north.

Leisure castles as homes are on the rise while institutional structures and developmental infrastructure are suffering and undergoing monumental dilapidation. The selfless culture has been totally eroded, and unbridled selfishness reigns supreme. These are cultures and traditions we live with and cannot change for anyone but us. Tinubu cannot help us, nor can Trump, Putin, or Xi Jinping. Buhari has come and gone, may Allah bless his soul, but it is more than clear that the emancipation of the north is not a man’s job, and certainly not an eight-year stint in power.

The federal reforms we have shied away from are now the only way out for the region, its safety, and its development. The regional development commissions have not done us much good, and perhaps regional governments may be the eventual catalyst. State police, too, may turn out to be a blessing, and having communities take responsibility for their environment’s immediate security could be the antidote to the north’s banditry-driven terror. The vast resources in the north, especially those obtained through mining, a heavily informalised sector of the economy, should be made to count in the development of the region. Its reforms would benefit the masses of the north, whereas its present form benefits the elite. Its bastardisation may have been the most powerful harbour for terrorism, and a reform just might make it a little safer for suburban communities of the north, who are most affected by banditry.

As a whole, the north’s predicament is more of a morality deficit than a governance one, and the society itself needs a rethink and a rehaul. We have lost our way, and we are the proverbial flock without a true shepherd. All the shepherds that come our way are shysters leading us to slaughter for a penny. We may need another Sardauna after all, albeit the time and the tide have proven that; were Sardauna to come back now, he would not be able to effect a thing. Why? His leadership style is not in vogue. The new style is for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. The high population, just like poverty, has become weaponised for use in election cycles. Nevertheless, we must not lose hope as there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that the new local government autonomy reforms of this administration will finally breathe life into the neglected communities of the north, as was the case during the military era. When this happens, the localities will be free from poor leadership values in the states, and those ungoverned spaces may be utilised for meaningful developmental undertakings. For now, the north remains in God’s blessed hands till we are all ready to “own it” and beg God to give us one more chance yet again.