North in crisis due to loss of values, says Ango Abdullahi

Prominent Northern Nigerian figures, including Ango Abdullahi, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, and political economist Dr. Usman Bugaje, have expressed deep concern over the region's decline. They attribute the worsening insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment to a significant erosion of the values and leadership principles that once defined Northern Nigeria.

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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 third Late Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference in Kaduna, Abdullahi stated that the North, once respected for its discipline and integrity, has lost its moral compass. He argued that the physical expansion of Northern cities belies a steady decline in virtues such as honesty, sacrifice, and selfless leadership, leading to the region's stagnation.

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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.

Dr. Bugaje, delivering the keynote address, echoed these sentiments, asserting that Northern Nigeria has suffered decades of economic decline, insecurity, and institutional decay due to a departure from the visionary leadership of figures like Hassan Katsina. He detailed the region's struggles, including decreasing food production, widespread displacement, a shrinking economy, tripled poverty rates, collapsed education and healthcare systems, and depleted human capital.

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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.

Both leaders called for a return to the foundational principles and legacy of past leaders like Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina, who they described as embodying integrity, accountability, and dedication to public service. They believe emulating these values is crucial for the North's potential resurgence and recovery from its current "pathetic situation."

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It is indeed time to ask how much of the North still remains. Or, better still, how much of the sanity of the elite, especially those in government, still remains? Today, who is there to go to? Where are the General Hassans