Challenging the Leadership of the North

By

Zayyad I. Muhammad

zaymohd@yahoo.com

 

 

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!