Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said that, Nigeria
consists of two countries: a developing South, and a backward, less
educated and unhealthy North, with the highest number of poor
people in the world.
El-Rufai equally lamented that the northern region has
development indicators similar to that of Afganistan, a country at
war.
Speaking in Kaduna on Saturday at the Northern Youth Summit
organised by Northern Hibiscus, an NGO, El-Rufai however said that
the problems of the region must be addressed collectively as a
group of 19 northern states governors, not as individual
states.
El-Rufai said the summit whose theme was “Awakening the Arewa
Spirit,” was very timely, adding that “when we talk about awakening
the spirit, it means the spirit is either sleeping or dead.
Therefore, this summit is very important, just like our keynote
address speaker has said.
“But, looking at the statistics, Nigeria appears to be a
middle-income country. But, if we segregate those statistics across
states and zones, you will see that in terms of human development
indicators, Nigeria consists of two countries; there is a backward,
less educated and unhealthy northern Nigeria and a developing,
largely educated and healthy southern Nigeria.
“We have to speak the truth to ourselves and ask why is it that
northern Nigeria has development indicators similar to Afganistan,
a country still at war?
“We have the largest number of poor people in the world, most of
them in northern Nigeria. Nigeria also has the largest number of
out-of-school children, virtually all of them in Northern
Nigeria.
“Northern Nigeria has become the centre of drug abuse, gender
violence, banditry, kidnapping and terrorism. We have also been
associated with high divorce rate and breakdown of families. These
are the challenges that confront us. This is the naked truth that
we have to tell ourselves.
“We must, therefore, as leaders at all levels have a
conversation about the way forward for our part of the country.
Because increasingly, as many of you must have seen on social
media, we are being considered as the parasite of the federal
economy, even though, that is not entirely true. Because northern
Nigeria still feeds the nation. The richest businessman in Nigeria
is still Aliko Dangote, not someone from southern Nigeria, thank
God for that.
“So, we still have a lot to be proud of. We should be proud of
our culture and tradition, as well as unity. You hardly can find
someone from northern Nigeria convicted of 419 or being aYahoo boy.
That is something we should be proud of.
“We are generally considered to be more honest and less corrupt
than other Nigerians. That is something we should be proud of. In
addition, our demographic superiority gives us a very powerful tool
to negotiate in politics. And that is something we should be proud
of, and we should preserve. So, we have every reason to unite and
not be divided.
“I, therefore, call on you the youth; you account for 80 per
cent of the northern population and the future of this region lies
in your hands, not in the hands of Dinosaurs like me. I’m 59 and
among the oldest five per cent of the northern population. I
shouldn’t even be governor; I should have been governor ten years
ago. But ‘na condition make crayfish bend,’ so we are here.
“But, why are we here? In my view, we are here to prepare the
next generation of leaders. That is why the agenda for this summit
is very important. So, you should take the panel discussions very
seriously and come up with very clear and implementable decisions
that you will circulate to all of us elected to lead in northern
Nigeria.
“I urge Northern Hibiscus to send recommendations from this
summit to the Chairman of northern state governors’ forum. We have
to do something about the situation of northern Nigeria and we must
do so as a group of 19 governors, not individual state governors.”
El-Rufai said.
Also speaking, the sponsor of the event and immediate past
Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation,
Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin said, while the North was in dire
situation, the region has not lost everything. “There is growth
everywhere and so many leaders have emerged.”
Jibrin who analysed the need to reawaken the Arewa spirit on
sociocultural, economic and political spheres, said family unit
remains the bigger challenge faced in the region as it contributes
to high rate of divorce, late marriages, drug abuse and
destitution.
Looking at the economic aspect, he noted the need for job and
wealth creation to build businesses, understanding competition,
marketing and funding in entrepreneurship. He said there is little
or no money available at commercial banks to loan small and medium
enterprises because government borrows an average of N1 trillion
annually with N600 billion to N700 billion interest from first line
charge.
The lawmaker called for role models across board, adding that
“we have to mould leaders, we have to create ourselves into
leaders,” he said.
In her opening remarks, founder of Northern Hibiscus Initiative,
Aisha Falke, said the summit was organised to examine the numerous
challenges of the North, with a view to finding lasting solutions
to them.
She also disclosed that, Northern Hibiscus had also taken the
bull by the horn with a 16-year action to empower the youths with
useful skills, especially those who are not privileged to have
formal education.
Culled from SUN
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