North has lost its values, says NEF Chairman

The North has lost its defining values, contributing to its current struggles with insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment, according to Prof. Ango Abdullahi, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum.

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The North has lost its values. You may not want to hear this, but that is the case today. If we have not lost the values we inherited from our parents and our pioneer leaders, the North will not be where it is today.

Speaking at the Late Gen. Hassan Katsina Memorial Conference in Kaduna, Abdullahi expressed concern that the region, once respected for discipline and integrity, has seen a steady decline in the moral values inherited from its pioneer leaders. "The North has lost its values. You may not want to hear this, but that is the case today," he stated, adding that the region's stagnation is a direct consequence of this moral decay.

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The North is in a pathetic situation. For me, that is the only reason why the North has stagnated. Don’t worry about the buildings you see. The basic issue concerning where the North finds itself today is the loss of our values.

Abdullahi contrasted the current situation with the past, noting that while northern cities have expanded physically, the virtues of honesty, sacrifice, and selfless leadership have diminished. He urged the people of the North to look back to the legacy of leaders like the late Gen. Hassan Katsina, who embodied integrity and dedication, as a model for revival.

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If we can go back to those values, particularly by remembering those who inherited them and practised them, there is no doubt in my mind that the North would have been different today.

Political economist Dr. Usman Bugaje, also speaking at the conference, echoed these sentiments. He attributed decades of economic decline, insecurity, and institutional decay in northern Nigeria to a drift from the visionary leadership exemplified by Katsina and his contemporaries. Bugaje highlighted the region's critical issues, including declining food production, widespread displacement, a shrinking economy, rising poverty, and collapsed education and healthcare systems.

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The troubles of the North are many and varied. Food production is going down daily, hundreds of thousands are being displaced from their homes, the economy has been shrinking, poverty has nearly tripled, education and healthcare have collapsed, and our human capital has been depleted.