Poverty in the north

The terrible poverty ravaging the North is caused by the notorious northern cabal all for selfish reasons. In 1979, Chief Obafemi Awolowo contested the presidential election on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) with the sole aim of replicating all the progressive policies he introduced in the then Western region of Nigeria as Premier from 1954-1959. The northern cabal devised measures, including their twelve-two-thirds evil formulae, just to make sure that he did not ascend the presidency.

The then head of state, Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, was pressurised to hand over power to the late Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the NPN standard bearer who was himself toppled by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 1983.

No doubt, if Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a visionary leader imbued with powerful foresight, had been allowed to rule from 1979 – 1983, a lot of the unpalatable scenarios now ravaging the North would have been averted. People like Hon. Alhassan Ado Garba Doguwa, the Majority Leader in today’s House of Representatives, would not have prided himself with four wives and twenty-seven children on the floor of the House.

The millions of poverty-stricken almajiri that now pose big problems are the direct result of northern Muslims marrying three or four wives who are eventually left to fend for themselves.

I know of some northern young men in their early thirties doing menial jobs such as scavenging, drawing water, shoe-shining, etc., and yet with two wives and children who go begging.

The northern cabal has been holding northerners in captivity for too long – all for their selfish ends. Until the northern youths, under the umbrella of Arewa Youth Forum free themselves from the wicked grips of the northern cabal, poverty in the region would continue to escalate by leaps and bounds.

Also, some northern states sponsoring mass weddings for jobless teenagers have contributed largely to the high rate of poverty in the North. In conclusion, politics of tribalism and religion are two evils that must be dealt with in the North if they want to move out of their cocoon. Nigeria is the world capital of poverty simply because of the North’s refusal to embrace all that is good in Western education.

Williams Adeyemi,

Lagos.