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By Sanusi Muhammad

The contraption referred to as Northern region in Nigeria was a master-piece in all aspects of development and progress. It was a region that set the pace in agriculture, mining and other economic activities. It was the region that fought for the unity of Nigeria to remain as an indivisible nation.

As time progressed in nation building, with the gruesome murder of its patriotic and God-fearing leaders, the region lost out in national affairs. It got frustrated, confused with a huge leadership vacuum and voiceless. It was left at the mercy of other crop of determined leaders the likes of Generals Hassan Usman Katsina, Jeremiah Useni, Ahmadu Ali, Joseph Nanven Garba, Muhammadu Inuwa Wushishi, Sani Bello, Paul Tarfa, IBM Haruna, Mamman Tsoho Kontagora, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, David Mark, Police Commissioner Usman Farouk and Tanko Yakasai, Damishi Tonson Sango, Lawal Hamman Gabdo and few others.

Today, two symbiotic and organic elements are directly responsible for the devastation of the region: extreme poverty and alarming rate of illiteracy, which are the invisible players destroying the north.

While these elements were at work, ethno-religious conflicts erupted within the region to add salt to injury.

Conflicts are repulsive yet inevitable, always laden with causes and effects. In most cases however, we are emotionally aligned with the latter, ignoring the former in its entity. Few strongly condemned the reckless manner a section of northern youth perpetrated arson, looting and destruction during the #Endbadgovernance protest. Many are still with traumatic memory of the various video clips that captured the outrageous disaster of those belligerent youths and detention of minors by the Nigeria Police for claimed participation in the protest. Yet, northerners are still chasing the shadow instead of the real object.

The lawless youths’ ‘volcanic eruption’ was a spontaneous reaction to the existing ‘class antagonism’, overtly resonating with the looting of public treasury using different disguises by some political office holders across the country. Was it a class struggle for the youths to assert their supremacy in terms of breaking law and order or was it a game of looting the looters? Did we really understand their language of fury within the social and economic context of their violence? While the protesters believed in what they unleashed as legitimate, some consider it as illegitimate. Nevertheless, beyond their acts of wanton destructions and the deep lamentations, it is imperative to mesmerize on the inducing forces behind their sheer lawlessness.

Before they murder the next sleep, jingoistic northerners who do not want the region to be on another fire should lead a rigorous and painstaking campaign of redeeming the exploited and oppressed youths from further degeneration. The final verdict is that all is not well with this class of young people.

Unlike in other regions and the FCT where the protests were peacefully conducted to an extent without mayhem, the pathetic narration was that of unprecedented social disorder in the core north. We all watched how Kano and Kaduna were particularly the worst hit as there was a brief demonstration of anarchy. The unrelenting aggression of the hoodlums, miscreants, or thugs who unleashed the reign of mass calamities was driven by three evil forces of abject poverty, artificially imposed illiteracy and greed of those in leadership. How did the north arrive at that level of senseless behavior by those who are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow but turned sycophants, data boys and scientific beggars of crumbs in the name of politics or loyalty?

What type of future generation does the north expect going by the devilish behaviours of those in leadership positions?

Sympathize with them or crucify these ‘destructive elements’ are the products of our regional retardation. The region churns out a horde of scientific beggars masquerading as party loyalists or errand boys to those in power. We turned them to what they are today through our collective greed, hypocrisy, deceit, negligence and display of social and political irresponsibility.

To keep the northern youths socioeconomically dislocated, they will definitely continue to part ways with sense of social belonging and the society is their sworn enemy, particularly those in elective political positions. Exploiting every opportunity at their disposal, it will be easy for them to attack our social formation. Remaining insensitive to their fundamental right to education, good governance and their state of poverty persisting; we will be living on a time bomb. A philosophy has it that the only security at our disposal is opportunity. Have we forgotten this philosophical sermon in our search for security in the North?

The unwavering upheavals that reared their ugly heads in several parts of the North were seen as an evil to detest. However, it was and still a timely warning to the northern governors, traditional rulers and religious leaders and the so called champions of the north in positions of authority to accept the despicable outcome as a great challenge to work out modalities of reducing and eradicating ubiquitous poverty, provision of quality education for self-reliance among the teeming youths not the practice of brain washing and pushing them to thuggery and political hooliganism as Data boys with a bleak future.

But let me hurriedly ask a question whether the North has the type of leadership it desires? Does the region even have any recognized leadership since the death of Gen Hassan Usman Katsina? Betraying the essence of leadership is betraying the region and the unavoidable repercussion will be the occurrence of more social disturbances.

It was disheartening that what lasted years for construction as a means of sustainable development that benefitted the grave diggers of the region directly or indirectly were devastated within few hours. On the other hand, was the perpetration of vandalism by the youths a ‘protest’ against their socioeconomic—degrading? Sadly, our belated and inactive responses to the process of social construction only ensure the youths’ full growth without proper development. We are all guilty of lacking the enigmatic spirit of inclusiveness as a viable agenda for development.

A scanty and disjointed meaning should not be the basis for our analysis of the unrest. It should rather have an everlasting effect on our sense of judgments for prolific deliberations and aggressive actions. It should have a broad meaning of socioeconomic dimensions of our existence. We ought to engage our intellectual power to establish reliable facts drawn from the horrible experiences and infer what triggered the disturbances in the first place. To this end, it is categorically clear to all stakeholders in the North that a notorious gang of young people unjustly dispossessed of economic protection and education is a potential danger to our existence. Already, the brutish bandits, their collaborators in their areas of operation and insurgents are taking the lead role. Instead of preserving our regional integrity, unity and stability, those vandals are destroying them with immunity and impunity.

Unfortunately, they are pulling down the very structures of their own habitat. We are victims of self-inflicted injuries but deploy little efforts to heel ourselves. Who will save the sickening North at this critical time for the sake of Nigeria? It is either we bury our imaginary political, religious and tribal differences to support the candidature of Sen. Bala Muhammed for trust with the presidency in 2027 who has an inbuilt capacity and courage to save the entire country from imminent collapse or no any other Nigerian qualifies for the gargantuan task from my opinion.

For the destruction of the North and other components of Nigeria, therefore, extreme poverty and illiteracy are gathering momentum. They are hugely intimidating and provocative and should not be taken lightly if we truly love the country as we claim.

The solution does not lie in building castles and mansions in choice areas, cruising in exotic limousines with sophisticated ladies of easy virtue or marrying four wives under the guise of religious obligation and maintaining a coterie of praise singers and sycophants or lavishing millions of ‘illicit’ funds on birth days, and other celebrations, distribution of grains and other edibles or motor bikes and used vehicles to the poor for deceit and ego. The solution lies with the establishment of industries, factories and skills acquisition centres as well as robust agricultural drive accompanied with real economic empowerment.

The last #Endbadgovernance protest should serve as an eye opener to do the needful and bring to a halt the menacing trend. To eliminate these twin diseases, all efforts must be on deck otherwise we will continue to be passing through the process of self-destruction and repressing our development fortunes.

Undoubtedly, the North is yearning for positive minds for positive changes. The message has been dispatched by the rioting and frustrated youths without ambiguity. It is strong-worded memo waiting for prompt and appropriate actions at an unexpected time. Some of our Governors and elective elites ought to have a rethink of prioritizing human development programs and policies against needless physical projects that in most cases are conduits for stealing public funds. This will ensure and enhance an effective management of priorities to produce desired results.

Albeit there are different approaches to development, for immediate requirement, the ‘Basic Needs Agenda’ of development should be allowed to make a breakthrough and rescue the North from the brink of a precipice.

A region of ‘false attraction’, the North is endowed with many positive attributes for negative values. It is blessed with vast and fertile arable land but economically depressed. The North boasts of large population more than any of the regions but a significant portion of it is afflicted with drugs addiction, part of it consists of sustained political thugs/data boys and professional sycophants, lacking innovations and creativeness to fast forward even their localities not to talk of the region. The North is always proud to have given Nigeria a greater number of its leaders, yet, the region is comparatively backward. The region is politically indomitable when it comes to presidential election however its political will to reform itself is bankrupt.

The richest man in Africa and one of the richest in the world and other business moguls are northerners, yet, the region celebrates squalor, abject poverty and malnutrition in the midst of affluence. The North is not resonating with the fact that ‘competition is not only the life of trade; it is the trade of life.’

The North is maliciously interested in building and supporting individuals for aggrandizement rather than powerful institutions and ideas that promote human development.

The region’s default learning process for development is very dangerous and requires reassessment. For instance, the North is not learning what to avoid and what to aspire for greatness. The region is not learning how to rise after falling down and messed-up. The indigenes of the region were not trained to be masters of their destinies and not servants of doom. They are incapable of breaking disabilities for the construction of possibilities. That is why building a bridge as a point of convergence for moving away from adversity to prosperity, continue to elude them.

For survival of the region, northerners must observe a paradigm shift from their erroneous belief in disabilities to possibilities. This can start with a gigantic and regional project such as the Northern Nigeria Development Plan. Under the auspices of eminent persons with impeccable character who must be apolitical, there will be clearly stated goals and objectives, the human, material and intellectual resources needed and the timing, the anticipated challenges and what have you.

Such eminent persons should include; Aminu Dantata, Generals TY Danjuma, Jeremiah Useni, Sani Bello, Christopher Musa, Dangiwa Umar, Muhammadu Magoro, Sani Sami (Emir of Zuru), David Mark, Babagana Munguno. Others; Umar Mutallab, Abdulsamad Ishaku Rabi’u, Aliko Dangote, Justice Sidi Bage, MD Abubakar (rtd IG), Hajia Ladi Nimlan, Muhammadu Sambo Haruna (Emir of Wase) and few others.

At the end, if the North fails to plan its tomorrow at this trying time, but continue to live in disarray and pretence, then the future will definitely fail it. The North will continue to be under the illusion of precarious development instead of planned and orchestrated development. And its troubles will multiply.

Beneath acts of vandalism, thuggery and hooliganism, the North is threatened by two faceless enemies, abject poverty and stark illiteracy. They always act as Commanding Officers of the frustrating and deprived youths, who always wreak havoc on the vulnerability of the region.

We must as Nigerians strive to protect ourselves and fight sponsors of thuggery, hooliganism and vandalism under the guise of politics before we are consumed by those artilleries of destruction on the pay rolls of political miscreants in power.