Listening to the North, again

Various leaders and influential persons of Northern extraction have been speaking lately on issues concerning the region. About 17 groups met and spoke on March 24 on a range of matters, from agriculture to education and restructuring. They were articulate and expressed concerns about a number of issues while suggesting new paths.
Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie spoke ahead of the formal communique of the groups. He voiced the concern of the leaders that the North should no longer be seen as the one pulling the country back. He stated, “Chibok girls are still missing. Now it has gone to Dapchi in Yobe State. What happened? Are we always going to be the victims? Boko Haram; see what they did to the Northeast. They have spread over to the Northcentral and even to the southern part of the country.
“Should we continue to be regarded on the negative side? No. We are leaders in our own right, and we must exercise this responsibility for our people”.
A closer reading of the Communique of Northern Political Groups issued on March 24 shows a litany of lamentations. The North complained of so much that is wrong with the region that many would wonder if they were in the opposition.
Soon after the Northern groups met and issued a communique, an academic at the Bayero University Dr Bala Muhammad of the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano claimed that Igbo entrepreneurs are responsible for the drug epidemic ravaging the youth of Kano and other parts of the North. Then General T.Y. Danjuma called on citizens in the North East not to rely on the Army but take up arms to defend themselves against the killings going on in the region.
Many analysts have examined the Danjuma statement from various angles, so it is best to leave it. The statements by the 16 Northern Socio-Political Groups and that of Dr Bala Muhammed deserve attention for what they reveal. Their communique blamed Northern leaders for failing the North, and then blamed leaders from other parts of Nigeria for allegedly failing the North in the decade before 2015.
From the economy through agriculture to security, the Northern groups generously cast blame on others for the alleged plight of the region. Their key points include
• The economy of the North “continues to deteriorate inspite of the evident willingness of Northerners to work hard and earn legitimate incomes”. Who is to blame? “Federal government spending is severely tilted against the North, while most State governments only pay lip service to real development in their states”.
• “Agriculture shows limited glimpses of recovery, but almost entirely through efforts of peasants and antiquated processes. The North is completely de-industrialized, while the rest of the nation moves towards sustainable growth and development.”
• “Since 2015, Northerners have occupied positions with the potential to make decisive differences in the economy, security or political fortunes of the region. The hopes that leaders who have exercised power since 2015 will reverse the abuse and neglect of the region in the previous decade have been betrayed. Weak governance, gross insensitivity and unacceptable levels of incompetence have been compounded by battles of attrition in which northerners have sapped each others’ strength.”
The North blames everyone for their problems, from past leaders of Nigeria to current leaders. They admit that the country has been effectively under control of the North since 2015 but claim that the North has never received adequate funding! This assertion runs counter to the figures of budgetary allocations or revelations about presidential directives to development bodies to concentrate on the North.
Dr Bala Muhammad furthers the narrative of blame by adding an ethnic twist. He blames Igbos who are pharmacists and chemists for the proclivity of Northern youth to abuse drugs far more than their counterparts in other parts of Nigeria. Note that drug abuse is one of the major challenges facing the country concerning its youth. Bala Muhammed’s assertions, repeated twice now, lack academic rigour, scientific analysis, maturity and responsibility. It is xenophobic and tendentious ethnic profiling. The goal is to cause unrest by inciting citizens against fellow citizens.
Igbo entrepreneurs represent a strong link in the healthcare and drug value chain as pharmacists and chemists. They are present in the major distribution centres of Lagos, Onitsha and Kano and dispersed at the retail end across the country. While drug abuse among the young is growing, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency records a high 37% incidence in Kano. Why are young people in Akure, Lagos, Owerri, Enugu to Calabar and even Sokoto not abusing drugs as the young of Kano? Muhammad and persons like him rather than tackle the challenges that led the youth of Kano to seek relief and release in abuse of over the counter as well as prescription medicines are busy beating negative drums of blame that are unhelpful to the families and communities of Kano where these youths reside.

Chido Nwakanma