~by Godwin Orozo
The Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, has expressed deep concern over the escalating cases of out-of-school children, poverty, and other socioeconomic issues plaguing Northern Nigeria. He warned that the region faces a looming collapse unless its leaders unite to address these challenges.
Sani voiced his concerns during a courtesy visit by the National Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mamman Osuman, to Kaduna State.
“This new executive committee has emerged at a time of great challenges,” Sani remarked. “We are confronted with difficult developmental and security questions. Criminal elements have been laying siege to communities in the North, reversing our progress on multiple fronts. Our development deficits are scary and require urgent attention.”
Highlighting the severity of the situation, Sani referred to a 2022 survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, which revealed that 63% of Nigerians, about 133 million people, live in multidimensional poverty. “65% of the poor, or 86 million people, live in the North, while 35%, nearly 47 million, live in the South,” he noted.
The governor also underscored the dire state of education in the region. “The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria at 18.3 million. Of this outrageous number, about 70% are in the North of Nigeria. This is quite disturbing and must worry all of us who still care for the North and Nigeria in general.”
Sani emphasized the impact of insecurity on various sectors, particularly agriculture. “Insecurity in the North has retarded developments in critical sectors. Many farmers cannot access their farms, leading to food insecurity. Child and maternal mortality are on the increase. Our infrastructure has decayed, and efforts to address these deficits are threatened by insecurity.”
He lamented the region’s political climate, criticizing the prevalence of “toxic politics, opposition for opposition’s sake, and ‘pull him down syndrome.” Sani urged Northern leaders to engage in introspection and seek solutions to their problems collectively.
“We indulge in endless blame games, devoid of attempts at soul searching or introspection. We have failed to ask ourselves some vital questions. Where did the rain start beating the North? Who are those complicit in the underdevelopment of the North?” he questioned.
Sani called on the Arewa Consultative Forum to play a pivotal role in uniting the region and shifting the focus from politics to development.
“ACF must make efforts to refocus the attention of our people. Let us de-emphasize politics and focus on development. Let us gear our efforts towards overcoming the threats with all the energy we can muster,” he urged.
