When I came back to my home town in the north, after finishing my one year service in Ibadan in 2007, I felt as if I was lost in the shriveled land…


Hazing dust all over our skies. Little cars moving on our roads. Almajirai running about on our streets. And the indigenous population was muddled and messy. I felt that the region was troubled with one big problem: poverty.


Then, I linked the problem to the Federal Government’s inability or unwillingness to control its states. Today, I found out that the poverty-stricken north is interrelated to the “leadership deficit” on the part of the northern leaders, and the cruel administration of the 19 governors of the northern states...


Prior to the discovery of petroleum products in Olaibiri, in the Niger Delta’s south in 1956, the country’s revenue was largely sourced from the agricultural production of the northern region, until the “oil boom” in 1970s. It was this “oil boom” that made the Federal Government excited enough to turn back on the agricultural sector and take up the oil sector as if it’s its only source of subsistence.


As the livelihood of the region was neglected, the northern governors did nothing in their powers to salvage the starving state. Because these leaders are not committed and compassionate to their people, every sector in the area is badly affected. Take the agricultural sector, for example.


Despite the fact that agriculture is the only pride of the zone, the governors haven’t come with any successful policies to improve the sector. With their enough state allocations, the governors still fail to provide enough fertilizers, modern farm tools, and pesticide products to local farmers to enhance farming and protect farm crops.


In the north, old farming implements, such as the outmoded hoes, are still the main farming tools used by the farmers. Many local farmers are still using oxen to plough their farm soil. And inasmuch as the authorities are not providing mechanized farming tools for the farmers to meet the challenges of the new age, agricultural sector in the area will continue to sink!


Why are the northern governors careless about the needs of their people?


Two main theories are offered. First, the disconnection theory which argues that northern governors are out of touch with their people. Classical examples of this theory are seen in many states in the region.


Earlier this year in Kano; for example, the state government came up with mass wedding program, which aimed at providing security for widows and divorcees and reduce social vices in the state. While the aim of the program is promising, it was totally off the point. It misfire the need and aspiration of young, vibrant men and women in the state who would rather be employed, get enough electricity to power their businesses, and have their food prices fall than to have another partner added to their lives.


In a state where more than half of its population can’t maintain a 3 square meal a day, wedding program is not a priority. When a gang of unemployed youths is troubling a city of more than 9 million people, workable programs that will provide jobs and food to the people is what needs to be implemented.


If Kwankwaso truly understands the needs of his people, he would have done something differently.


In Kebbi State, we haven’t seen a thing. Not even a misfiring program. It’s very hard to tell what the state government has been doing since its first tenure. There are some 3 million people in the state sharing one substandard Federal Medical Center. Kebbi State is among the 10 states of the rnorth with highest poverty level.


According to Professor Charles Soludo, the former Governor of Central Bank, in his paper title: “Preserving Stability and Accelerating Growth,” which he presented in 2007, he stated that: “89.7% of people in Kebbi State are poor.” Yet, the state government has not come with any policy to address the excruciating hunger in the state.


And the problems that are facing Kebbi are the same problems affecting Sokoto, Kaduna, and Zamfara State. In virtually all the 19 northern states of Nigeria, less or nothing has been done by the governors to help develop the region and the people that live in it.


Second, there is the selfish theory which argues that the northern governors are only fighting for themselves.


While the leaders know what is going on in the region, this theory argues that the governors “don’t give a damn” to serve the masses. This is supported by the selfish agenda of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).


Over the years, repetitive talks have been held in Kaduna. But if you listen to these talks closely, you’ll notice that it’s never about how to solve the growing unemployment in the region, how to improve the human capital in the land, or how to enhance the educational sector of the area, especially women education. The unending discussions were never about the people; they were personal – about private programs of the Arewa leaders, their families, and cronies.


I wonder whether the northern leaders are aware of the educational statistics in the north; for example, which indicates that 94% of women (42% of men) in Jigawa State alone are illiterate and more than two thirds of 15–19-year-old-girls in the north are unable to read a sentence, compared to less than 10% in the south.


Are such statistics being discussed at the ACF meetings in Kaduna? I doubt so!


The latest poverty indices released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which puts the north at the top of poverty ladder, is a testimony of the region’s decay and the ACF’s self-centered policies.


The report indicated that the North-West and North-East geo-political zones recorded the highest poverty rate in the country with 77.7% and 76.3% respectively in 2010, while the South-West geo-political zone recorded the lowest at 59.1%, with Sokoto State recording the highest poverty rate in the region, at 86.4%.


Sometimes, you wonder where the state’s subventions are going. Clearly, it’s the northern governors that are diverting the funds to their own personal accounts, but continue to weigh in the cheap argument that uneven distribution of nation’s resources is to be blamed for the northern famish. The allocations given to each state in the region are enough to dig boreholes, grow crops, and create jobs in every state in the north.


Failure of the Northern governors to utilize their allocations to improve the lives of their people is what propels the development of the radical sect of Jama’at Ahlil-Sunnah Li-Da’awati Wal Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s teaching and Jihad, popularly known as “Boko Haram”).


Boko Haram began with some pockets of radical Islamist in 2002, which have been marginalized by their leaders and ended up at the hands of a cleric who saw the need to adopt violent, stringent ideology under the umbrella of the most peaceful religion to take laws into his own hands.

The sect’s leader – Mohammad Yusuf – saw the need to give voice to the voiceless through the formation of a terrorist militia and the application of violence.


Since more than 60% of the youths in the region are jobless, it’s easy for Yusuf to gain recruits. And while the majority of these youths are illiterate, they join the militia of Yusuf blindly. These recruits have caused an indelible insult to many innocent Muslims who are practicing the correct version of Islam that they – the recruits and their brainwashers – have misunderstood.


Parents wept and families mourned their children who they trust to never join some atrocious sect of terrorism, but did. Young folks join the sect and fought for it. They used their precious lives to kill and maim thousands of innocent Nigerian lives. They shed tears in their own families and the families of those they killed.


All these killings and mayhem, in one way or another, can be safely attributed to the leaders of these people – the northern leaders – who left their poor masses with little or no option. Northern governors have much blood in their hands (whether they choose to believe the facts or not).


Mohammad Yusuf took his time to utilize these wasted folks that have no food to eat, no homes to sleep, and no job to hold on to, and recruit them to his militia, promising to give them something better as long as they adhere to his iniquitous ideology. In his mosque in Maiduguri, Mohammad Yusuf used to give his recruits food and date and shelter, something that the northern governors denied these same people for so long.


I know my region is rich; I just don’t know if my leaders – all of them, including the emirs who dictate from their thrones – are good enough to tap into its resources to develop the region and feed its people.


The leadership style of these governors is authoritarian, which is the reason why they’re strict and stern, and characterized with greediness, selfishness, and dumb attitudes in addressing the real issues confronting their people.


It’s these factors that contribute to the region’s famine and deterioration and herald the birth of terrorism in northern Nigeria. The trend has set forth and its impact, today, is what we are witnessing – nonstop bombings throughout the region. And if critical care is not taking, this tension will escalate, and the nation will entirely submerge into a bloodier national war.




http://www.mansuhaib.com

Just that?.

So is dis ur logic..."Southerners are bad,but northerners are worse leaders"?

No!!! The federal govt doesn't have to control its states. The poverty U rightly noticed in the north is as result of negligence on the part of your elites. The north had ruled this country more than the whole south combined. And they had looted the country even as much. Your elites and leaders really need to be blamed.
Even you, the youths, must share the greater blame cos if u keep on blaming your past leaders, your children will blame you tomorrow.
So action man! Action!!

@@@

and Gov Aliyu never talk about this

eya ooo power must be back by 2015? hmm

when will people look in the mirror from the zoo we are living?

@passionate: click the link to read the whole article. It's a comprehensive viewpoint on how the northern leaders shattered their region - and its people.

@nedu: No! No! That's not what I'm saying. What I'm trying to point out is northern leaders are responsible for the destruction of the northern region.

If you click the link to the complete article, you'll surely understand the logic.

Suhaibu: @passionate: click the link to read the whole article. It's a comprehensive viewpoint on how the northern leaders shattered their region - and its people.

i'll rather clink glasses than click on the link!

If u had posted the whole article, it won't be a problem for me to click on ur link and read more of it. I av a quite numbers of interesting blogs like dt save in my bookmarks.

But for u to biliv u are wise, and can dangle d carrot in our eyes to decieve us, then sorry o.

U missed!

@King: I'm new to the world of blogosphere and backlink things. So, if you notice a gaffe in some one, be urbane to point it, not uncouth to embarrass.


@passionate: Here's the complete article. Hope you'll enjoy reading it.

gregtochi: No!!! The federal govt doesn't have to control its states. The poverty U rightly noticed in the north is as result of negligence on the part of your elites. The north had ruled this country more than the whole south combined. And they had looted the country even as much. Your elites and leaders really need to be blamed.
Even you, the youths, must share the greater blame cos if u keep on blaming your past leaders, your children will blame you tomorrow.
So action man! Action!!

The whole country is in a state of poverty. This is not to say you can simply point to the elites in Bayelsa and say, "hey, your inaction is the cause of your poverty."

You can't cheaply do that because the youths/elites are dominated by their leaders... That's the case in the north.

The argument of the article is that rulers in the north are careless of the region that's why it's a dead zone.

Suhaibu:

The whole country is in a state of poverty. This is not to say you can simply point to the elites in Bayelsa and say, "hey, your inaction is the cause of your poverty."

You can't cheaply do that because the youths/elites are dominated by their leaders... That's the case in the north.

The argument of the article is that rulers in the north are careless of the region that's why it's a dead zone.

There are several things you need to be aware of.
1st, by all standards, Nigeria is a poor country. The National budget of 30 billion dollars if shared equally among the 170 million Nigerians will only give each person half a dollar per day.

2nd, even though Nigeria is a poor country, the North is poorer than the south, that was the very reason for the Amalgamation of the North and south in 1914. It is for the South to bankroll the North. So forget that your saying that there was a time when Northern fund was used to develop the country before the advent of oil.

3rd, All Nigeria politicians are very selfish, their personal needs comes first before that of the masses, Whether a governor in Lagos or a governor in Sokoto, they are all the same.

4th, the wealth difference between the south and north is largely dependent on the behavior of the masses in these 2 regions, While does in the South will largely take their destiny in their hands and try to make their life better, those in the north largely believe in destiny and many that are poor believe they are destined to be poor, this leads to lack of personal drive.

lastly, the Northern leaders are witches big time. worse witches than many devilish leaders in the south, The southern leaders at least build schools to educate their people, but the northern leaders does not really care about educating their people and without education, only a miracle will lift someone for a poor family out of poverty.

so if you want to help your people give them education, as someone who has graduated from a higher institution and has seen what obtains in other areas, organize extra mural classes in your community to prepare children for WEAC and JAMB exams, encourage your family members to seek education and support them in your little way.

Shaibu , i want to assume you are from middlebelt, for such thoughts cannot be of 'core north'.
however, deep rooted bad leadership and political insensitivity are equally same all over nigeria. What makes southerners appear better off is education and relioguios limitation on peoples mindset. Everyman must struggle to survive , not resenting to fate, as in the north.

dgitrader: Shaibu , i want to assume you are from middlebelt, for such thoughts cannot be of 'core north'.
however, deep rooted bad leadership and political insensitivity are equally same all over nigeria. What makes southerners appear better off is education and relioguios limitation on peoples mindset. Everyman must struggle to survive , not resenting to fate, as in the north.

I'm a "core northerner". I'm really surprised that you think this way. There are numerous educated youths in the north, some times, better than many in the South or Middle-belt.

When it comes to sharp-thinking faculty, I'm just a drop in the northern ocean.

^^^^ why do north play politics with the truth all the time

u think u can carry on like that forever

bros spread the truth some of these deadly vampires embellish to hear

@@@

lastly, the Northern leaders are witches big time. worse witches than many devilish leaders in the south, The southern leaders at least build schools to educate their people, but the northern leaders does not really care about educating their people and without education, only a miracle will lift someone for a poor family out of poverty.

who can deny that!

every now and then; the special ones hit the mosque and next they tell us power must be back to North

ogb5:

There are several things you need to be aware of.
1st, by all standards, Nigeria is a poor country. The National budget of 30 billion dollars if shared equally among the 170 million Nigerians will only give each person half a dollar per day.

2nd, even though Nigeria is a poor country, the North is poorer than the south, that was the very reason for the Amalgamation of the North and south in 1914. It is for the South to bankroll the North. So forget that your saying that there was a time when Northern fund was used to develop the country before the advent of oil.

3rd, All Nigeria politicians are very selfish, their personal needs comes first before that of the masses, Whether a governor in Lagos or a governor in Sokoto, they are all the same.

4th, the wealth difference between the south and north is largely dependent on the behavior of the masses in these 2 regions, While does in the South will largely take their destiny in their hands and try to make their life better, those in the north largely believe in destiny and many that are poor believe they are destined to be poor, this leads to lack of personal drive.

lastly, the Northern leaders are witches big time. worse witches than many devilish leaders in the south, The southern leaders at least build schools to educate their people, but the northern leaders does not really care about educating their people and without education, only a miracle will lift someone for a poor family out of poverty.

so if you want to help your people give them education, as someone who has graduated from a higher institution and has seen what obtains in other areas, organize extra mural classes in your community to prepare children for WEAC and JAMB exams, encourage your family members to seek education and support them in your little way.

Brilliant post.

OP, you'll do well to note the part in bold, and start complying with it going forward.

It's not enough to write articles. Suggest solutions, then play your part in implementing them.

HNosegbe:


OP, you'll do well to note the part in bold, and start complying with it going forward.

It's not enough to write articles. Suggest solutions, then play your part in implementing them.

My point exactly.

Suhaibu: @nedu: No! No! That's not what I'm saying. What I'm trying to point out is northern leaders are responsible for the destruction of the northern region.

If you click the link to the complete article, you'll surely understand the logic.

The bolded is the bitter truth, and reason why i questioned ur
origin earlier, sorry for my manners

A typical hausa-fulani hardly criticies his brothers, even when the truth is open. This hurts the north more than anyother factors. When d likes of IBB/ABACHA where ravaging this country, 99% opposition who dared where southerners. But look at d bulk of those that critised GOVT since 1999 till present, southerners are bulk, puting aside religious and ethnic sentiments mosttimes. The north is too far behind in democraxy and good gorvernance
Massive education is d only cure. Unfortunately the present political and religious elite dont want mass education. All they want is fed. Charater, quota system, northern presidency, monthly revenue allocations, etc. Until the present crop of northen elite are uprooted, sorry my brother, the northern masses will forever live in penury and gross ignorance.

gregtochi: No!!! The federal govt doesn't have to control its states. The poverty U rightly noticed in the north is as result of negligence on the part of your elites. The north had ruled this country more than the whole south combined. And they had looted the country even as much. Your elites and leaders really need to be blamed.
Even you, the youths, must share the greater blame cos if u keep on blaming your past leaders, your children will blame you tomorrow.
So action man! Action!!

So make him carry Gun fight?

dgitrader:

The bolded is the bitter truth, and reason why i questioned ur
origin earlier, sorry for my manners

A typical hausa-fulani hardly criticies his brothers, even when the truth is open. This hurts the north more than anyother factors. When d likes of IBB/ABACHA where ravaging this country, 99% opposition who dared where southerners. But look at d bulk of those that critised GOVT since 1999 till present, southerners are bulk, puting aside religious and ethnic sentiments mosttimes. The north is too far behind in democraxy and good gorvernance
Massive education is d only cure. Unfortunately the present political and religious elite dont want mass education. All they want is fed. Charater, quota system, northern presidency, monthly revenue allocations, etc. Until the present crop of northen elite are uprooted, sorry my brother, the northern masses will forever live in penury and gross ignorance.

dgitrader:

The bolded is the bitter truth, and reason why i questioned ur
origin earlier, sorry for my manners
A typical hausa-fulani hardly criticies his brothers, even when the truth is open.
This hurts the north more than anyother factors. When d likes of IBB/ABACHA where ravaging this country, 99% opposition who dared where southerners. But look at d bulk of those that critised GOVT since 1999 till present, southerners are bulk, puting aside religious and ethnic sentiments mosttimes. The north is too far behind in democraxy and good gorvernance
Massive education is d only cure. Unfortunately the present political and religious elite dont want mass education. All they want is fed. Charater, quota system, northern presidency, monthly revenue allocations, etc. Until the present crop of northen elite are uprooted, sorry my brother, the northern masses will forever live in penury and gross ignorance.

Truth is ONE. We criticize our people when they err. I'm just one in a million of those who reveals the inequities of our leaders.

"Unfortunately the present political and religious elite dont want mass education."

Where did you get this from? Or is just your wishful thinking? I'd have to think it's.

I'm a northerner. I have all my education - from primary school up to the university in the north - and the population of our youths enrolling in higher institution is growing in huge numbers.

In our cities, 1 in every 6 people is a graduate. So, the education is rapidly growing. And you know why the population is growing?

It's because the politicians and the clerics are supporting the cause.

JAMB forms and Scholarships are awarded freely. When I traveled to India 2 years ago, I met with many northerners in Chennai and Delhi studying IT - almost all of them were sponsored by their governments.

"Until the present crop of northen elite are uprooted, sorry my brother, the northern masses will forever live in penury and gross ignorance."

This is a flat sweeping generalization. You can't just say that because human being by nature experiences what Sociologists called Social Change.
A political change might come. A behavior might change. By nature, we're bound to change in our thinking and perception.

Besides, there are many educated people in the north. I think the problem that you people have is that you're ignorant of the region.

It's unwise to use 1 or 10 people as your sample to label a million people as ignorant.

Now, I serve in the south. I taught in a secondary school, and mingled with Yoruba people. I have to tell you I met with many ignorant people in Ibadan. Some of them are in school, but they're educated illiterates. Others, never attended formal education.

So, can I use these people to say that southerners are ignorant? No!

I urge you to visit the region, and you'll be amazed at the number of educated elites you'll see there.

Finally, it's not my intention to spread insults; I started my blog because I thought that Nigeria needs a strong voice to change the messy condition we're in.

I wrote this article to tell the world our condition. I started with that because I believe we're the worst hit in the messy condition that our leaders thrown us. I revealed the truth because I want action.

This is just a background! Soon, my brother, I'll be laying the step-by-step guide on how all of us will play our own part to save ourselves from the yokes of these corrupt leaders of our dear country.

@@


still following!

Brilliant post...

I like your energy, but only if mere energy were enough to undo the working of the results of a civilization almost a thousand years old.




You see my brothers, the problem of the North did not start today, it would also not end today, one of the major reasons why i believe this is so is the vastly feudalistic structure of the North and its very respectful and Unquestioning loyalty to its leaders even when it's obvious they the leaders are wrong.


I remember somewhere that i read Lugard or some other proponent of the Indirect rule system say the northern masses are one of the most loyal people anywhere in the world. It worked in the North, it failed in the South, they didnt question their leaders and stle of being led, i dont see them waking up from their socially dictated slumber to question their leaders now.


Bottom line, the problem of the North is a complex cultural deficit woven into it's very life. it has very little to do with education.

Ravenwolf: Brilliant post...

I like your energy, but only if mere energy were enough to undo the working of the results of a civilization almost a thousand years old.




You see my brothers, the problem of the North did not start today, it would also not end today, one of the major reasons why i believe this is so is the vastly feudalistic structure of the North and its very respectful and Unquestioning loyalty to its leaders even when it's obvious they the leaders are wrong.


I remember somewhere that i read Lugard or some other proponent of the Indirect rule system say the northern masses are one of the most loyal people anywhere in the world. It worked in the North, it failed in the South, they didnt question their leaders and stle of being led, i dont see them waking up from their socially dictated slumber to question their leaders now.


Bottom line, the problem of the North is a complex cultural deficit woven into it's very life. it has very little to do with education.

Ravenwolf:

I agree with you: the northern problem is a century's old...
I also believe that progress comes in fits and starts: steadily, gradually... With a simple energy, and then blossom into something bigger.

Education, I believe, is the key. So, we'll keep informing them first, about the messy condition of our state, then inspire them to take action.

Thank you for the post - and the compliment.

@Op, I believe your intentions are great but it seems like every time a core northerner talks, he or he never fails to hint on this false claim that the north fed the south before the oil-boom. While the issue of who fed who is not the main subject of your piece, it think its note-worthy to reiterate that the north was amalgamated with the south for the benefit of the north. I wonder how the West with its relatively huge cocoa wealth with which it used to fund free education became too poor as to need assistance from the north. I also wonder how the East with its abundant palm oil and her multitude of enterprising citizens turned out to be poorer than the north. Mind you, the East, even with no free education and unarguably behind the West in education, pursued education with all her strenght so much so that they leveled the field academically with the West before independence. And if you must know, it was their personal money that was the engine behind the massive education drive. so I ask again, how come the north fed the south given the picture I painted above?

The truth of the matter is that the north would have been better off without the south. The hunger to control the southern resources, precisely oil, is the undoing of the north. In fact, it got worse after they "won" the civil war. Since 1970 the north, especially the core north, has developed unmatched sense of entitlement which effectively destroyed their God-given hunger to improve and compete. I hope you don't misunderstand my post, I hope it doesnt come off like I despise the north. I have nothing but love for all black people be they Zulu, Berom, Ijaw, etc. I think that Africans have had enough troubles and that its time for us to change and win, adapt and live, or remain stagnant and be finally enslaved by the last master - Asians.

So whats my point? The north is a victim of its own manipulations. As much as the whole of Nigeria is an eye-sore, the core north is just something else and its high time it changed some of its outdated model. Take for instance, why is the core north still allowing Almajiri system in their society? Why are they comfortable with the label of "educationally disadvantaged?" Why do they support extremely low cut-off mark for their people? does it not occur to them that such practices kill an individual's inherent competitiveness? Dont they understand that the world is intensely competetive and that there is no federal character in the wider world?

In this day and age any African that is not tough is in trouble. So, why would the north stick to a practice that doesnt incentivise improvement and doggeness? Even here in the US, I have always believed that time has come for America to revisit Affirmative Action for Blacks. Affirmative action with no expiry date is a call for complacency. In the long-run the recipient becomes a mediocre, and I can confidently say that that's what the core north is now. In the absence of power and govt support, the average core-northerner will be in hot waters if left to compete with an average southerner. It should not be so becuase all men are created equal.

In summary, I believe that for the core north to measure up and be competitive in the long run (the same thing applies to other regions), it must stop looking for handout from Abuja, it must stop looking to corner and usurp the oil through power, it must pull back and revive its agriculture, enthrone religious moderation, allow the MB to have some peace, end the culture of multiple wives, cease almajiri system, and educate! educate!! educate!!! If Nigeria splits today, the core north is going home with millions of uneducated almajiris and extremists. Ask yourself if there is any reasonable foreign investor that would risk his resource in such combustible environment.

The Asians are already kicking our butts, we'll be dammmmd if we end up dumbing down ourselves with miseducation and quota system. Lets run while we can. Let every region pull back and add value to whatever it is they have, thats the only way we can position ourselves and avoid this impending social and economic slavery. Remember, before we all said we didnt see the white man coming. We said he masked his intentions and caught us off-guard. Can we say the same with regards to Asians? The truth is if we keep the existing Nigerian structure of quota system, oil money, fictitious census, over-bloated local govt-for-money-sharing, cattle herding impunity and its attendant massacres, born to rule, and turn-by-turn presidency, then we need not worry about the future 'cause we already sold it.

Suhaibu:
@passionate: Here's the complete article. Hope you'll enjoy reading it.

Yes, I don read the article, when u say na poverty make boko haram rise, why dm come dey attack Christians and Churches?, why not go for the cause of the "poverty"?. But all the same, nice write up.

These are the kind of people that are worth listening to. This kind of issue should be brought to the for so all nigerians can tackle the problem. Right from the very beginning it has been known that the so called northern leaders are not helping matters with development of the country. Instead of focussing on what they can do to develop their area they focus more on issues that concern zoning and what have you. This is why education is good and necessary for the development of the nation

I won't be surprised this revolution being talked about is directed at the north, this is because its only a place where leaders are so corrupt to a fault that you find such thing happening. Yet they deprive their people of the basic education needed in a society. This is just the beginning, more revelations are coming followed by a complete revolution. I rest my case!

May God bless intinitely whoever started this thread and God bless the well-meaning forumites who have made very throught provoking and matured comments on this thread. I swear, it shall be well with you all as this is exactly the kind of intellectual atmosphere that should pervade the various threads on this forum. I hope that the mods really sit down and observe the kind of deep thoughtful and matured responses being aired here.


Again!.. God bless you all!

@op, very true observations.
my suggestions: be the change u wish to see. encourage people around u to get education.
ur people shld stop believing that some people are destined to be poor.
family planning is another important factor. they give birth as if they are laying eggs, thus they cant take care of the children they have.
put an end to killing of innocent people in that region, else by the end of boko haram (which is very close), the rate of poverty in the region will be worst than Somalia or any other poor country. this is because no sane investor will ever go there.
apart from the Northern political leaders, the Religious leaders are also not helping them. they shld also stop being selfish cos Nigerians listen alot to their 'spiritual leaders'. let them encourage to get education, not have excess kids etc in the Mosques. i believe things will get better
i keep wondering if boko haram has a different quaran, cos the educated ones sing differently

OP you should find this article interesting......
https://www.nairaland.com/1343978/northern-nigeria-mythical-realities#16572052

dgitrader: OP you should find this article interesting......
https://www.nairaland.com/1343978/northern-nigeria-mythical-realities#16572052

Hey! I really, really enjoy it. It's one of the best articles I have ever read on the subject!

Thank you very much for sharing.