Northern elders on rewriting the narrative of the region

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”.

That was the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, speaking on March 24 as various groups aggregating interests in the North met in Kaduna, the political capital of the region. He added, “Whenever there is crisis, women and children are always the major victims. Enough is enough. Enough of killings of our women and children, enough of the kidnapping of our daughters and enough of the destruction of our property. We are proud that you have come forward to meet us to discuss this issue.”

Coomassie made the remarks as the National Working Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum received leaders of Jam’Iyya Matan Arewa, the leading socio-cultural organisation of women in the North ahead of a more extensive meeting of Northern groups.

Civil society groups in Northern Nigeria have risen to articulate their concerns and aspirations for the region today and in the future. Their statement is significant for what it reveals about their mindset, the attitudinal shifts and their perception of the place of the North in the conglomeration of nations that make up Nigeria. While the tabloids feasted on their statement of non-support for current politicians, what the North is saying should interest the rest of the country in two critical areas, among others.

The North desires a change of the narrative of the North from being the laggard of the federation and the one with all the negatives to an association with positive developments. They are also willing to sit with other groups in the country to discuss the terms of engagement.

Representatives of 16 groups signed the communique of the Summit of Northern Groups held at Arewa House on March 24 “convened to assess the security, economic and political circumstances of the North and Northern communities in other parts of Nigeria”.

Primary issues of concern for the groups were the state of insecurity “under which virtually all Northerners live” and “the worsening economic fortunes of the vast majority of Northerners”. 

Boko Haram and armed banditry are so pronounced, the Summit stated, that “the North has rarely been so exposed to multiple and varied threats”. They asserted that “the economy of the North continues to deteriorate in spite of the evident willingness of Northerners to work hard and earn legitimate incomes” amidst deficit in necessary infrastructure and investment in human capital.

Official accounts present the North as the locus of substantial improvements in agriculture, but the Summit asserted that “Agriculture shows limited glimpses of recovery, but almost entirely through efforts of peasants and antiquated processes.”

The Northern leaders of thought rue the contradiction in having their people in full charge of the government since 2015 but with no significant improvement in the fortunes of the region. They charge: “Weak governance, gross insensitivity and unacceptable levels of incompetence have been compounded by battles of attrition in which northerners have sapped each others’ strength.” They decry the fact that politicians failed to lead but are instead “daily feeding the people with hate and resentment instead of searching for genuine and lasting solutions”.

The Kaduna declaration of March 24 should interest the political leaders of the North, civil society and citizens as well as the rest of the country. It represents an increment in the engagement process vital for the sustenance of democracy in the land. Their call for peaceful resolution of all conflicts in communities in the North should resonate with all the groups. It is timely and necessary to change the story of the North. Even more impressive is their yellow card to all elected officials. The Group “WARNS that Northern politicians should not expect to be voted for in the next general election unless they demonstrate a willingness to champion a massive assault on poverty and underdevelopment in the North. In this regard, most political office holders from the North are hereby served notice that they have failed the test to lead the region towards economic recovery and growth.”

Significantly for the rest of Nigeria,  the leaders of the North pledge a willingness “toput our union as a nation on the table and discuss with other Nigerians the relative values of ALL options and negotiate them with responsibility and respect”. Let the engagement scale up.