#EndBadGovernance Protests  as a Wake-up Call in the North

The inability of the northern governors to effectively interpret the #EndBadGovernance protests in their states, coupled with the prevailing poverty and illiteracy in the area, may have exacerbated the levels of anarchy and destruction witnessed in the region, Wale Igbintade writes

The #EndBadGovernance protests across the country may have come and gone, but they clearly have exposed the fact that northern Nigeria is on the precipice, which has the potential to spread to other regions.

While the protests affected many states in the South-west, their impact was particularly severe in some northern states, where massive destruction on public and private facilities, as well as loss of lives were recorded. 

Though security agencies have debunked the reports that at least 40 protesters were killed by security operatives who were desperate to quell the protest especially in the region, the fact remains that several lives were lost.

While many believe that a timely broadcast by President Bola Tinubu could have helped douse tensions across the country, the level of anarchy and looting observed in the northern states exposed a troubling lack of crisis management skills among the governors.

The northern region is particularly hard-hit by the current hunger and poverty in the country, exacerbated by President Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira, which have driven up food prices. 

This situation is further aggravated by rampant insecurity and the inability of people to access their farms.

Despite producing the highest number of presidents and heads of state, the northern region remains the most backward in terms of development indices.

 For instance, a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) highlighted this stark reality. 

Northern states rank among the poorest in Nigeria according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

 Specifically, the index revealed that the region has a total of 86 million poor people across the three sub-regions. The number represents about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s poor people.

The MPI measures various deprivations at the household level in health, education, and standard of living, painting a grim picture of the region’s socio-economic conditions.

States such as Sokoto, Taraba, and Jigawa consistently top the list of Nigeria’s poorest, illustrating the depth and breadth of poverty in northern Nigeria. 

This enduring poverty is aggravated by low literacy rates, with many children out of school, while inadequate healthcare services, leads fuels high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The region has also been battling divergent security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, farmers-herders, as well as religious clashes in the North-central and banditry across the North-west. Thousands of people have as a result, been killed or displaced in the crises that seem unending.

From having the highest number of states that cannot sustain themselves without federal allocations to a growing number of out-of-school children and a lack of sufficient manufacturing industries, northern Nigeria has been groaning in pain as the fight for survival continues, albeit in a difficult situation.

Unfortunately, the leaders, particularly the state governors despite huge allocations, have failed to address the problem of high illiteracy level or come up with a united position on ways to stop the killings and kidnapping of innocent citizens.

Added to the above challenges, some retrogressive cultural practices which have retarded progress in the region, need to be abolished.

Speaking at the 4th edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KadInvest 4.0) a fe#EndBadGovernance Protests  as a Wake-up Call in the Northw years ago, Chairman of the Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, berated northern governors for doing little to end poverty in the region. 

He added that northern Nigeria would continue to remain poor unless state governments collaborate with the private sector to create investments and close development gaps in the region.

According to him, “Nigeria is ranked at 157th out of 189 countries on the human development index. While the overall socio-economic condition in the country is a cause for concern, the regional disparities are, in fact, very alarming. In the northwestern and northeastern parts of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty.

“It is instructive to know that the 19 northern states, which account for over 54 per cent of Nigeria’s population and 70 per cent of its landmass, collectively generate only 21 per cent of the total sub-national IGR in the year 2017. Northern Nigeria will continue to fall behind if the respective state governments do not move to close the development gap,” Dangote explained.

The Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) has repeatedly voiced deep concerns over the alarming increase in the number of out-of-school children in the region, labelling it as a pressing issue that demands immediate attention, but has done nothing to check this growing trend.

Speaking at its meeting in Kaduna, the Chairman of the forum, Governor Muhammadu Yahaya of Gombe State, decried that northern Nigeria currently shoulders the unfortunate burden of hosting the highest number of out-of-school children globally.

 He emphasised the urgency of addressing the ‘unacceptable reality,’ asserting, “Every child deserves access to quality education to thrive in today’s dynamic global economy.”

He stressed the moral obligation of investing substantially in education, healthcare, and social services to unleash the full potential of youth and empower future generations.

Northern leaders have continued to unwittingly encourage and promote illiteracy and poverty among the common people by encouraging certain practices.

Speaking after paying a courtesy visit recently to the Emir of Zazzau, in Kaduna State,  Ambassador Nuhu Bamali, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, said the country needs to urgently tackle the devastating effects of poverty and insecurity in the northern region of Nigeria through agriculture and industrial revolution.

Obi lamented that the majority of the vast arable lands in the North are uncultivated while most of the industries in the region have shut down due to a lack of political will and inconsistent government economic policies.

“The way things are in our country today requires that all of us must get involved in one way or the other. Nigeria has nothing to do with poverty if those of us who are political leaders, including my humble self, had decided to serve the country faithfully. Because if we do, Nigeria will have nothing to do with poverty.

“Looking at the North; we can make more money from agriculture than we are making from oil. We have vast uncultivated land in the North, which can help pull people out of poverty, provide food for Nigeria, provide raw materials for industrialisation, and support export. We need to invest in the North. Insecurity is driven by poverty; the more you pull people out of poverty, the more you reduce insecurity,” he said.

It is hoped that northern governors and other leaders have learnt serious lessons from the #EndBadGovernance protests, which were fuelled by their failure to provide responsible leadership over the years. The time to rescue the region should start now because a stitch in time, they say, saves nine.