Challenging the Leadership of the North
Northern Nigeria, a region that had for long-time dominated the
political scene of Nigeria; but crawling behind other regions of the
country in both human and infrastructures development. And it also seems
that the leadership of the region is unbothered or simply confused on what
to do.
The question some observers are asking is; who are the people that
constitute the leadership of northern Nigeria? Is it the State Governors?
Is it Nigeria¢s ex-leaders? Is it the current political office holders at
the centre? Is it the business moguls? Is it the educated elites? Is it
the traditional class or the religious leaders? Or is it that there is an
unobserved vacuum in the leadership of the north? Or can we say that the
current situation in northern Nigeria is the consequence of complete
leadership failure?
The answers to these questions seem difficult from one angle, though they
appear easy or even interesting from another angle. To the ¡talakawas¢ in
the streets of the north, confusion is their best answer- because they
have bad impression of the leadership.
It is not far from the truth, if we say State Governors are very powerful
in the present day Nigeria; because they control the resources of their
States and to a large extent determine who get what from the centre, but
to say the truth, the notion most people in the north have on their
Governors is that of corrupt, non-performing and completely beating the
bush in terms of proffering developmental ideas; thought to be fair, we
can not say that all northern States Governors fall into this category.
The bulk of Nigeria¢s ex-leaders are from the north, and the society
expects them to have a say or at least some power of control in term of
developmental issues in the region, but the reality is, they have loose or
no say in term of development efforts in the north; which some observers
are of the view, it is because of their elitist attitude and non-chalant
mind-set; while some people see it as a sign of absent of dependable
leadership qualities, but we must admit that, without political authority
one is powerless, regardless of the position he or she had once held.
It is now a common believe in the north, that the traditional institution
have lost its influence on the public; which some observers are of the
opinion it was mainly due the fact that the traditional class are today
chasing what they don¢t need. Though, we must acknowledge that, the
traditional class is powerless, due to the fact that governments at the
three tier levels are their bread winners; however, the traditional class
can still play a significant role by ¡striking the shepherd to frighten
the sheep¢.
It is not far from the truth that faith based institutions in the north
has large followers, but we are in a situation where the religious leaders
preach fasting in the morning but practice gluttony in the night- the
religious class is fast becoming tools in the hands of politicians, and
have lost its traditional position as an avenue of giving corrections to
the society- though the situation the religious class found itself is
nothing but the reflection of the society¢s rot.
The business moguls and the educated elites of northern origin have
woefully failed to give back to the society. Though, this statement is
contentious in some quarters, but it is the plane truth- the elites of the
north are sons and daughters of the commoners, who resources of the north
was used to transformed them to what they are to do. They were given such
opportunities not because of the influence of their fathers nor because of
where they come from, nor their faith; this is the main reason why at any
slightest instance they will mention the sterling leadership qualities of
Sardauna. Today it is a different story; same people that were not
discriminated upon, are busy discriminating against class. Two interesting
things here are: those sons and daughters of theirs never for single
moment appreciate such opportunities given to them, because they know it
is an unfair advantage given to them, courtesy of the influence of their
parents, and the society sees these leaders as nepotistic.
We have mentioned the shortcomings of our leaders in the north, however, we must own up to the fact that we are in a society that criticise other
people initiatives but always fail to give an alternative feasible one, or
we condemn others, but when we found ourselves in their positions we
perform worse than them. Since we are calling for a new approach and new
thinking in the north, what do we expect the leadership to do?
The north has from the time of the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello to date,
woefully failed to utilize its natural resources and that of greater
Nigeria. Should northern leadership go back to the drawing board to see
how the north can mainly concentrate on how to utilize its natural
resources? Certainly no, this is the twenty-first century; an age of
human capital development.
The north most as a matter of urgency formulates policies and programmes
that would improve the economic well-being and quality of its people, by
creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes.
Policies that would improve literacy rates, life expectancy, and free the
people from the prison of poverty. The north should go for¡reductionistic¢ approach rather than ¡holistic¢ though it has to be¡systemic¢ in some instances. For example, the nineteen northern States
should institute contributory scheme, where each State should contribute a
certain amount of money in a month, for instance One Hundred million per
State, i.e. a whooping N1.9billion in a month, this can be employ to fund
the development of large scale farms, small scale industries, support
artisans, sports, movie making, music, innovation and inventions, and
information technology; these would propels jobs creations- thus a strong
human capital development is ignited which would have a multiplier effect on the entire economy of
the north.
This is a challenge to the nineteen (19) northern States Governors; Gen.
Gowon; Former President Shehu Shagari; Muhammadu Buhari, IBB, Atiku
Abubakar, Sultan Abubakar and other traditional rulers, Aliko Dangote and
his likes, the Ulamas and the clergy; and the educated elites to design a
practicable and sustainable scheme that will transform the north from a
poverty-ridden region to a vibrant economy. Let the north do it, it can!
By Zayyad I. Muhammad
Zayyad I. Muhammad wrote in Jimeta, Adamawa State, 08036070980,
zaymohd@yahoo.com