Northern Nigeria at a Crossroads: Unity as the Missing Strategy - By LM Hamidu
Northern Nigeria is confronted not merely by insecurity, poverty, or underdevelopment, but by a deeper and more corrosive crisis: a fragmentation of purpose driven by religious, ethnic, and identity-based divisions. These divisions are not organic accidents of history; they have been deliberately cultivated, weaponised, and sustained by selfish political and elite interests who thrive on disunity. Until this reality is confronted honestly and decisively, no meaningful progress can be achieved. The North’s greatest weakness today is not the absence of resources or people of talent, but the collapse of collective consciousness. Communities that share history, geography, and destiny are locked in suspicion and rivalry—Muslim against Christian, indigene against settler, tribe against tribe. These fault lines have become convenient tools for manipulation, allowing local and national actors to deflect accountability while mobilising support through fear and grievance rather than ...