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<p>Northern Nigeria’s leadership crisis is not the absence of leaders, but the absence of structured continuity. From independence in 1960, the North understood leadership as stewardship. Under Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto), and other Northern leaders such as Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Hassan Usman Katsina, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Joseph Tarka and Aminu Kano, governance was anchored on moral authority, regional cohesion, education, and economic productivity. Institutions like the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC), Ahmadu Bello University (1962), and regional marketing boards were deliberate tools for sustainability, not personal gain.</p>
<p>The NNDC, funded largely by proceeds from cotton, groundnuts, hides and skins exports, financed industrial estates, textile mills (Kaduna Textiles, Arewa Textiles), and scholarship schemes. Graduates were absorbed into public service, and employment guarantees, official cars, and housing schemes were not populist gestures but outcomes of a planned regional economy. These systems began to weaken after the 1966 coup, and by the collapse of the First Republic, the North lost its ideological anchor.</p>
<p>Military rule (1966–1979) centralized power, dismantled regional economic autonomy, and replaced mentorship with command loyalty. The abolition of marketing boards in the late 1980s under Structural Adjustment further destroyed Northern productive capacity. What followed was survival politics leaders focused on federal allocations rather than regional development.</p><div class="6dW6ZM7g" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>The North miscalculated profoundly with Muhammadu Buhari. From 2003 to 2015, Northern elites rallied behind him as a symbol of integrity and discipline. He was projected as the solution, but not as the builder of systems. When he finally won in 2015, no clear succession plan or leadership school emerged. Buhari’s personal moral standing did not translate into institutional reform, mentorship pipelines, or a future-facing Northern agenda. The North lived in the moment, not the future.</p>
<p>Yet, Northern Nigeria still possesses experienced leaders who, if united around vision rather than ambition, could arrest the decline; To mention a few:<br />
1. Atiku Abubakar – unmatched private-sector exposure, national networks, and understanding of fiscal federalism and economic restructuring.<br />
2. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso – proven record in education, human capital investment, and institutional continuity.</p>
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<p>3. . Sen. Jonah David Jang (rtd.) – he symbolizes minority participation in both military and democratic leadership, particularly in navigating identity, faith, and regional diversity.<br />
4. Kashim Shettima – crisis governance experience from Borno, exposure to insurgency management and national economic coordination.<br />
5. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.) – A former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister, Danjuma represents moral courage and principled leadership, later channeling his influence into philanthropy, national stability, and institutional support through the TY Danjuma Foundation.<br />
6. Nasir El-Rufai – infrastructure reform, urban governance, and policy articulation.<br />
7. Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara – His leadership symbolized inclusion, constitutionalism, and the political relevance of Northern minorities in national decision-making. As Speaker, he emphasized legislative independence, rule of law, and national unity across faith and ethnic lines.<br />
8. Aminu Tambuwal – legislative depth, constitutional knowledge, and executive experience.<br />
9. Ahmad Lawan – legislative continuity and federal budgeting experience.<br />
10. Bukola Saraki – institutional reform, health sector interventions, and bridge-building across regions.<br />
11. Aliyu Wamakko – grassroots mobilization and state-level governance.<br />
12. Babagana Zulum – security-informed leadership and humanitarian governance.</p>
<p>The tragedy is that these leaders operate in silos, not as a collective Northern brain trust. Most times leadership without ideology, even competence fragments.</p>
<p>Today, Northern Nigeria bears the brunt of capital project neglect, decaying rail and road networks, underfunded schools, overstretched security architecture, and disproportionate poverty indices despite producing the bulk of Nigeria’s political leadership. Federal allocations meant for education, security, and infrastructure have been mismanaged by Northern elites who themselves benefited from free education, scholarships, and social justice structures of the old North.</p>
<p>What went wrong? The destruction of production-based economics. The North abandoned agriculture value chains, textile manufacturing, and vocational education for rent-seeking politics. Mentorship collapsed. Elders stopped acting as moral guardians. Young people were mobilized as political foot soldiers, not future leaders.</p>
<p>More dangerously, the North has failed to interrogate the worst case scenarios. If Nigeria fractures under economic pressure, insecurity, or ethnic fragmentation, what becomes of a region plagued by poverty, porous borders, arms proliferation, and food insecurity? Survival thinking demands preparation for the worst, not blind faith in the status quo.</p>
<p>To rebuild, a credible Northern agenda must incorporate:<br />
• Human capital development (education, skills, research)<br />
• Security sector reform and local intelligence structures<br />
• Regional economic revival (agro-processing, solid minerals)<br />
• Leadership mentorship and succession institutions<br />
• Moral reorientation and civic responsibility<br />
• Intergenerational leadership pipelines</p>
<p>Unity is not optional it is existential. 2027 is not about ambition; it is about survival. For elites, it is the final chance to correct history. For the poor, it is a fight for dignity. For the youth, it is a moment of becoming. Titles must fall. Ego must retreat. The North must sit at the table as equals, not as lords.</p>
<p>History shows what the North built. The present shows what neglect destroyed. The future will judge whether this generation had the courage to rebuild or allowed the house to collapse completely.</p>
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