North at war against itself, gradually disintegrating — Babangida Aliyu

An alarm has been raised that the Northern part of Nigeria is at war against itself and gradually disintegrating, needing urgent attention to salvage it from total collapse.

The alarm was raised by the Chairman of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, during a courtesy call paid on the Governors of Bauchi State, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, and Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office, Bauchi, on Monday.

According to him, “If you look around very well, there are some who are busy running down the North. It is not only USAID that is our problem; there are those who are instigating Hausa fighting Fulani and other things. These are the things we must urgently take care of before we are consumed.”

The former Governor of Niger State added, “These segments of the people are using every available divisive measure to further aggravate our poverty situation and perpetrate all forms of evils among our people.”

He stressed further, “We must be very careful, do away with every materialistic tendency, and unite our people, make our region better and stronger.”

Babangida Aliyu eulogised the lives and times of Nigeria’s founding fathers, including Late Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and a host of others, for bequeathing a legacy of unity on the North while they ruled, stressing that such must not be allowed to die.

He called on the present crop of leaders in the North to do everything humanly possible to bridge the seeming wide gap in the Northern region which has pitted the North-West, North-Central, and North-East against each other.

In his remarks, Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, who spoke on behalf of the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, stressed the need for concerted efforts to make the North a more united entity.

Bala Mohammed lamented the present situation in the region caused by what he opined was many years of neglect and selfish aspirations, saying, “We are building on what we inherited, but it must change positively.”

According to him, “We in the Northern States Governors Forum under the leadership of the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, are doing our best to change the narrative positively.”

The Governor stressed, “We are mapping out local solutions to the local problems of the region. There must be synergy between the national and subnational governments in order to reduce the negative conditions of the country.”

Bala Mohammed assured that all the nineteen State Governors of the Northern region will continue to strive to ensure the good legacies of the past leaders are maintained in order to make the region great again and keep their hopes alive.

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