Tinubu’s Government And The Continued Pauperization And Marginalisation Of The North -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

As the countdown to the 2027 general election begins, there have massive covert and overt negotiation and alignment involving individuals, groups and regions for relevance. And while it seems that Tinubu is consolidating its stranglehold on power, the North, the once vibrant political bloc seems to want to wait for the crumbs from the Tinubu’s political table. Almost all the governors of the Northern states are in the Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) and all the elected representatives in the National Assembly (NASS) seems to have defected to the APC too. What is more troubling is that all these movements to the Tinubu’s camp was not coming as a result of good governance. There is nothing on the ground to support these needless movement to the APC other selfish political gains.

Just as the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not favor anyone except his cabal and his Lagos crowd and cronies, the entire North fared worse under him more than any region and in under any government of Nigeria since the colonial era. What exactly has the North benefitted from the BAT government in terms of appointment, infrastructure, social services..? Nothing, apart from misery, hardship and pain. And apart from poverty, the North remains the most insecure place to visit or live right now.

Unarguably, Tinubu formed the most exclusionist government in the history of Nigeria. Under Tinubu, the North is grossly marginalized in political appointment with over 80% of juicy appointments going to Tinubu’s Yoruba tribe. The FCT Minister’s position which many think is the property of the North is now in the hands of the loud-mouthed Tinubu’s henchman, Nyesom Wike, a southerner. The position occupied by Kashim Shettima is like a dormant position. Shettima is like a lame duck vice-president with no portfolio. Even though Tinubu has spent over 261 days outside the country in the last three years yet, I cannot remember when power was transmitted officially to Shettima to act in his stead. Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu’s Chief of Staff and Seyi, Tinubu’s son have more powers than Shettima. In fact, many are of the opinion that Seyi is the de facto vice-president of the country. Again, the position of National Security Adviser occupied by a Northerner, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu has been compromised. Last May, Bola Tinubu appointed one of his kinsmen, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa as the first-ever Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, splitting the office of the National Security Adviser, while Nuhu Ribadu, the substantive NSA, is left to plays the second fiddle.

Besides the issues of political appointment, there is nothing in place in the North by the present regime of Tinubu in terms of infrastructure or social services to compensate for the support given to him to wrestle power. The economy of the entire North has collapsed in the face of Tinubu’s rash economic policies. The North is ravaged by insecurity as a huge swathe of Northern lands are in the control of bandits and terrorists. It is like Tinubu is persecuting the North for some unknown offense committed against him. The mouth of the Northern advocates are being muzzled as the Northern leaders like Malam El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and some others who are not in Tinubu’s political camp are being hounded by the agents of the government.

Now as the 2027 general elections beckon, Tinubu has turned to the North for support, again using religion as his tool. No doubt, Tinubu sees the North as a bunch of religious fanatics that can always be bought with religious bait. In 2023, he played the religious card with the Muslim-Muslim ticket and the North fell for it hook, line and sinker and rigged him into power. This time around, he has re-appointed his deputy Kashim Shettima and mobilized the Northern Islamic clerics to work for his perpetuation in power. So, it is not wrong to state that Tinubu is taking the entire Northern region for granted.

It was in the news a few days ago that about 500 Islamic scholars under the aegis of Muslim Intellectual Forum released a communique after their meeting held in Dutse, Jigawa State passing a vote of confidence on Tinubu and urging support for his re-election bid. Undoubtedly, this kind of unholy endorsement cannot come without inducement even though this has been debunked officially. They may attempt to deny it but feelers from the North may point to the contrary. Recall that one Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir an Islamic cleric criticized the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and asked the Muslims to vote Tinubu a few weeks ago when the Bishops paid a visit to Aso Rock to tell Tinubu the truth about the true state of affairs in the country.

In the light of the above, I advise that the North stop this madness about religious bigotry and free the region from this vicious circle of poverty and ignorance. It has not helped anyone rather it has produced poverty and misery for the region. It does not serve anyone’s interest but the interest of the selfish and unscrupulous political elite that has benefitted from the ignorance of the people. Those asking the North to work for Tinubu in the name of religion are not speaking for the interest but for themselves.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com
An actress, social activist, politician
London, UK