Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has voiced serious concerns about the increasing number of out-of-school children, pervasive poverty, and other socioeconomic issues plaguing Northern Nigeria. He warned that without unified leadership and immediate action, the region risks collapse.
Governor Sani made these remarks during a courtesy visit from Mamman Osuman, the National Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), to Kaduna State.
“This new executive committee has emerged at a time of great challenges. We are confronted with difficult developmental and security questions. Criminal elements have been laying siege to communities in the North and reversing our progress on multiple fronts. Our development deficits are scary and require urgent attention,” Sani said.
He highlighted alarming statistics from the Federal Government’s 2022 multidimensional poverty survey, revealing that 63% of Nigerians (about 133 million people) live in multidimensional poverty, with 65% of the impoverished (86 million people) residing in the North.
“The North is not faring any better in the area of Education. 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. This is quite disturbing and must worry all of us who still care for the North and Nigeria in general,” he continued.
Governor Sani noted that insecurity has hindered development in critical sectors, preventing farmers from accessing their lands and exacerbating food insecurity. Additionally, child and maternal mortality rates are rising, and infrastructure continues to deteriorate.
“For the North to move decisively to change these negative development indices, we must tackle the promotion of toxic politics, opposition for opposition’s sake, and the ‘pull him down syndrome’. We indulge in endless blame games, devoid of attempts at soul searching or introspection,” Sani stated.
He called for a collective effort to identify the root causes of the North’s challenges and urged the Arewa Consultative Forum to play a significant role in building consensus and shifting focus from politics to development.
“The Arewa Consultative Forum has a major role to play in building this required consensus for the best approach to tackle the multifaceted challenges facing Northern Nigeria. ACF must make efforts to refocus the attention of our people. Let us de-emphasise politics and focus on development. Let us gear our efforts towards overcoming the threats with all the energy we can muster,” Sani concluded.
Governor Sani’s urgent call for unity and action highlights the critical need for Northern Nigerian leaders to collaborate and address the region’s profound socioeconomic issues.