Northern-Nigeria Perspective

THE WORST TOOL OF AREWA: HOW TINUBU MANIPULATES A REGION THROUGH ITS ELECTED WEAKLINGS AND RELIGIOUS CONFUSION By Dahiru Yusuf Yabo The tragedy of Arewa today is not that it lacks numbers, intellect, or faith — it is that it has too many elected idiots and spiritually confused elites who have traded the soul of the North for crumbs from the southern table. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, an astute strategist and political survivor, has not conquered the North through superior ideas or vision, but through the manipulation of its internal contradictions. He understands the weakness of Arewa’s political class — the greed of its officeholders, the fear of its clergy, and the gullibility of its self-acclaimed intellectuals. He knows that while the North has numerical dominance, it lacks unified consciousness. Its politicians fight for personal survival, not collective dignity. They preach unity in public and negotiate betrayal in private. The same men who were expected to defend the region’s i...

AREWA FLAWS: AN ENEMY WE MADE By Dahiru Yusuf Yabo     Introduction: A Region in Decline Arewa—Northern Nigeria —once the epicenter of political power and military dominance, is now the tragic portrait of strategic betrayal and internal collapse. The decay is not a mystery, and the culprits are not hiding. They attend our naming ceremonies. They sit on our emirs' front rows. They preach in our mosques. And we, the people, vote them in. We have turned our own ballots into bullets—not aimed at enemies, but at our future. The greatest irony of the Arewa condition is simple: the enemy we cry about is the one we built, the one we fed, the one we elected.   The Architecture of Our Undoing 1. Political Power, Wasted Decades Northern Nigeria has produced more presidents, military rulers, ministers, and legislators than any other region. Yet: Poverty in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Yobe, Jigawa, and Katsina is record-breaking. Our children still roam barefoot, clutching rusty bowls, b...

Thirty-two years ago, Nigeria stood on the cusp of greatness. The winds of democratic change were sweeping through Africa, and all eyes turned to our nation with hope — hope that Nigeria would rise as a beacon of liberty, justice, and self-determination. I was privileged to be an active participant in that defining chapter, which culminated in a historic election that captured the imagination of the world and reshaped our political destiny. It was a moment of great promise — and great sacrifice. The political class made painful compromises, but it was the Nigerian people who bore the heaviest burden. They yearned for a new democratic order, and many paid dearly for it. I, too, made my fair share of sacrifices, most notably setting aside my own presidential ambition in deference to the late Chief MKO Abiola — a gesture made in faith and fidelity to a higher national cause. But others gave far more. The late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Tafida Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Alfred Rewane — t...