Last week, the National Teachers’ Institute announced that about 80 per cent of teachers in Northern Nigeria were not qualified to teach. Just before that, the Federal Ministry of Education had announced the cut-off marks for admission into the Federal Government Colleges, known as Unity Schools, with the shocking piece of information that while the cut-off mark was as high as 139 for a Southern state like Anambra, it was as low as two, yes two, (out of a possible 200 marks) for pupils of a Northern state like Yobe.

According to the Federal Character Commission, “In 1954 when Nigeria opted for a federal form of government, the concept of Quota System as a policy was adopted in the recruitment of persons into the officers’ corps of the armed forces and the police as well as in admissions into educational institutions,” to promote a fair representation and close the existing disparities among the parts of the nation. On the surface, it is a good idea, because it ensures that no single area gets into federal establishments to the detriment of other areas.

However, over the decades, it has dealt a heavy blow on the psyche of Northern Nigeria. Man is naturally competitive. Man performs at his peak in times of difficulty: the maxim “necessity is the mother of invention” captures it. The collapse of communism bears testimony to this. Remove competition among people, provide amenities for them equally, reward them equally — no matter their individual contributions — and the will to excel evaporates. Even though the Federal Character policy was established with good intentions, those who created it and those who still support its continuance are indirectly not wishing the North well.

In the 2007 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Imo State produced more candidates seeking admission into the universities than all the 19 Northern states put together. That is not just shocking but dangerous. The top five states with the highest number of candidates were Southern states. They are as follows: Imo 93,065; Anambra 64,689; Delta 61,580; Edo 57,754; Akwa Ibom 47,928; while the  lowest five states were Northern states as follows: Sokoto 3,925; Taraba 3,832; Zamfara 2,904; Jigawa 2,541; and Yobe 2,516.

The trend remains virtually the same year after year. For example, last year, the top three states were Imo (123,865 candidates); Delta (88,876); and Anambra (71,272); while the last three states were Northern states.

Last month, UNESCO released a report that ranked Nigeria as the country with the most number of children out of school: a whopping 10.5 million – the population of Portugal! No doubt, a larger proportion of these children would be from the North. Some blame the almajiri system for this. It is a system that was created to offer young boys the opportunity of being groomed and tutored by a religious leader, so as to grow into exemplary members of society. But it has gone awry, making these young boys roam the streets begging, with nobody to direct them, and then growing up into angry youths that can be used to cause mayhem at the drop of a hat.

Right from birth, the Northern child is disadvantaged. While his Southern counterpart grows up attending school, the Northern child does not. Through education and entrepreneurship, the Southern youth grows up with more opportunities in life. He knows that he can only succeed in life through excellence. That drive makes a southerner successful and he trains his children in good schools, instilling self-reliance and competitiveness in them, thereby improving the chances of the children even succeeding more than him. The average Yoruba person does not want an Igbo person to beat him in any field of human endeavour and vice versa; that spurs both sides to excellence. The average Urhobo person, Efik person or Bini person does not want an Igbo person, or Yoruba person or Ibibio or Ijaw to beat him. So there is healthy rivalry among them, which leads to excellence and success.

On the contrary, with no education, no artisanal skills and lack of competitive spirit, the Northern child grows up with extremely low chances of success. He cannot secure a decent job; he cannot even offer specialised services of an artisan; he is afraid to start off a small-scale business because he virtually has nobody to understudy. The only available job is the most difficult and yet the least remunerated: the work of a labourer. He supplies water in 25-litre kegs to people who live on the fourth floors with no elevators for N50 per keg. He uses a wheelbarrow or tub to move sand and concrete at construction sites; he stays around markets to help those who have bought heavy items like tubers of yam and bags of rice to move these items from deep inside the market to their vehicles or even home. And for all this hard labour, he gets paid pittance.

As he renders this poorly paid service to people, does anybody expect him to be happy with the successful people around him? It is impossible.

The Northerner is not less intelligent than his Southern counterpart, neither is he weaker or less creative. How many people can beat the business acumen and creativity of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, or the automobile design ingenuity of Jelani Aliyu, or the academic intelligence of Nasir el-Rufai, or the resoluteness of Col. Abubakar Umar and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, or the football skills of Tijani Babangida and Daniel Amokachi, or the musical talent of Innocent Tuface Idibia, or the organisational and leadership abilities of Sir Ahmadu Bello?

Some would claim that Islam is the reason for the North’s poor embrace of education. If that were so, why is a predominantly Christian state like Taraba found among the states with the lowest literacy rate? Saudi Arabia, the headquarters of Islam, is very education-focused with a literacy rate of 85 per cent, ranking 116th of 194 countries. Indonesia, the most populated Muslim country in the world, is education-savvy with 92 per cent literacy rate. The United Arab Emirates has 90 per cent literacy rate. Nigeria has 72 per cent literacy rate, but should actually be in the 90s.

The danger in having the North lag behind is that Nigeria has to always move at the pace of the North or put appropriately, lag behind with it. Nigeria is a unit and cannot move and leave some parts behind. Again, the more the South moves ahead of the North, the more conflicts will arise between the North and the South. While the North will feel that the South is cornering the joint resources of the nation, the South will feel the North is pulling it backwards.

One other factor that has worked against the North is its long years of ruling the country. There is a form of complacency that comes from the feeling of “We are in charge.” At such periods, you let your guards down; you don’t complain so as not to overheat the administration of your “kinsman”. But when your brother is not in charge, you feel left out and thereby complain the loudest of marginalisation. Those in charge bend backwards to satisfy you with different projects. The North should de-emphasise its focus on the presidency. Forty years of Northern presidency – civilian or military – have not offered the North any tangible advantage.

Those who hate the truth would rise in righteous anger, seeing this treatise as the work of an enemy rather than digesting the hard truth and finding solutions to a worsening problem. And those who love ethnic bashing will quickly see it as advantage to start shooting at the North. But the truth is that the progress of the North will serve both the interest of the North and South.

There should be a two-way approach to this problem. The North should set up a 20-year target to catch up with the South in education and entrepreneurship. The Northern states must make it an offence for any parent to deny their child education. The state governors and local government chairmen need to start a programme of sending as many Northern children as possible to Southern states for their secondary and tertiary education. The new Northern youths need to leave their comfort zone: compete with their Southern counterparts, interact with them and imbibe some of the ways of the Southern people.

The second aspect concerns uneducated youths who may no longer want to go to school. Lack of education is no impediment to success. The Northern governors and local council chairmen should start an intensive skills acquisition programme for the youths. A labourer cannot train another, neither can he rise much in life if he continues as an unskilled labourer. But someone who has learnt masonry, tiling, sewing, vehicle repairing, generator repairing, painting, plumbing, etc, can grow to a level where he will have apprentices. Massive construction takes place non-stop across the federation. Nigerians have an unquenchable appetite for cars and fashion. So, they need these services. That way, the number of skilled workers increases; the earning power of the people increases; and such people can afford a better life for their children, gradually changing the face of their community.

Quota system or federal character is derogatory and has worsened things for the North. Every Northerner who loves the North must tell Nigeria to stop insulting the North with this federal character bait. The North must refuse anything offered it on a platter: it is either a Greek gift or a poisoned chalice. The North should save itself by rejecting this insulting Unity Schools’ cut-off marks that cut it off from development and modernity.


http://www.punchng.com/opinion/the-harm-nigeria-does-to-the-north/

When I saw the thread title. I was like "Duhh. Or the other way round".


But it looks intriguing reading through two paragraphs.

So, I'll return in the midnight, to finish the story. Ciao.

Is it not the same northerners that said they dont want school? (boko haram) . your post is interesting but get more facts. you talked of yobe's fgc cut off mark as 2 How many yobe people can even afford school. the 2 is even there as camouflage (to me 'o') as only few of them would enroll i guess. 'Dem no like school na fight dem like abi no be so? and no be nigeria fault'
you talked of unskilled teachers 'abeg who go wan teach for north with bh' apart from bh, northern conflict can arise anytime so people fear the north. Many southern educated people who could be teachers came from the north they left due to crisis and may i remind you that A.B.U is in the north. The country has tried to carry them along but they seem to be pursuing people with their 'tribalism' trust me tribalism and not fanatism

Funny Enough, This Ingenious Thread will not make Frontpage..Why? Because Even Though Its Centred on the North & The Problems Plaguing It. Few Northerners will Comment, While the Southerners who do, only come to Sneer!
However I have a few points to add!
Does the Responsibility of ensuring Change lie with the Illiterate Hordes in the North whom do not even know the Genesis of their Condition or it lies with Educated and Privileged Children of the Elite who should sit down for an Ernest Soul-Searching Exercise and resolve to effect change since they are disposed to means of achieving that?

Let's hope it makes front page with more comments, i guess it might ,over to mod.

The 'north' has been in power more than other regions since independence but have the least of education. So who do we blame if not their leaders

It seems they intentionally enslaved their people to backwardness for political and personal aggrandizement cos there shouldn't be any basis for almajiri system in the north and it saddens me whenever I see those unfortunate ones roaming the streets begging when they ought to be in school preparing for their future. But unfortunately its been mortgaged on the alter of politics and culture.

I believe if genuine intention, mass awareness are applied with seriousness by northern elites/politicians/leaders their youths will compete with those from southern regions.

The truth is that the leaders aint doing enough!

Who says north is disadvantaged? The region is simply averse to external intrusion on Islam. Years of military rule indeed gave the north huge advantages over the south. A region dependent on southern oil revenues, port duties, alcohol VATs and property taxes, can boast of more states and LGAs than the south! Kano alone has more LGS and constituencies than the entire SE.

Yet most of the LGs in Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and Jigawa are at most three dispersed hamlets. In the SE most of the LGs are densely populated semi-urban, economic centres. Empty landmass should no longer be used as basis for revenue sharing.

This Hausa-Fulani enclave of North West along with Kebbi N162.5 billion to become the second highest revenue allocation earning zone outside oil producing SS.
This is how they did it:
Kano, LGA: 44, population alloted: 9.3 million.
Zamfara, LGA:14 , population alloted: 3.8 million;
Katsina, LGA: , population alloted: 3.8 million
Sokoto, LGA:23 ,population alloted 4.3. million
Jigawa, LGA:27, population 2.5 million

Hello Mod. can u move dis thread to d front page please.
an article like this shud be properly elucidated. who knows, it cud be read by those concerned.
Thank you.

The problem with the North is their leaders. I agree with the writer. How do you expect someone with an IQ of 2 to compete. The quota system makes the north less competitive. There is nothing wrong with the northerners, a change of mindset would set the pace.

My opinion is that their elites use their poor masses for political and economic gain,why not make education complusory for everyone in the north atleast elementary education they would rather leave their poor massed to beg and become danger to the society and the worse of it all they don't teach their people to love human life and most importantly their neighbour and not discrminating anyone because of their religion,or region,but this is not the case just call a small aboki around you and ask him what he thinks about christains and you would be shocked at his reply.

My opinion is that their elites use their poor masses for political and economic gain,why not make education complusory for everyone in the north atleast elementary education they would rather leave their poor massed to beg and become danger to the society and the worse of it all they don't teach their people to love human life and most importantly their neighbour and not discrminating anyone because of their religion,or region,but this is not the case just call a small aboki around you and ask him what he thinks about christains and you would be shocked at his reply,according to nelson mandela people are taught to hate,they can be taught to love.

jking001: My opinion is that their elites use their poor masses for political and economic gain,why not make education complusory for everyone in the north atleast elementary education they would rather leave their poor massed to beg and become danger to the society and the worse of it all they don't teach their people to love human life and most importantly their neighbour and not discrminating anyone because of their religion,or region,but this is not the case just call a small aboki around you and ask him what he thinks about christains and you would be shocked at his reply.

One thing I know is that the huge money Nothern elites and rich men like Abacha (even in his death his family remain wealthy I surmise), IBB and TY Danjuma reaped from looting our national treasury has not translated into decent standard of living for their fellow Northmen. Maybe a few folks in their family which is why we have a narional travesty in the form of the Abacha stadium. That said, I'd say their condition is sparked by a laziness from eating from an oil wealth that IS NOT theirs by birth. They claim it using the pretext of Federal character and Land Use Act whilst contributing as a state or a people (relatively) little to a national purse.

Y suld Nigeria b blamed fo north's woes? Wu set d quota system?
Wu set cut off mark in school admisions?
Wu carries majority votes at d national assembly?
wu determines how nigerian mony is spent?

And the post never made front page ,mod do you have a problem with the post.

@@

and that mad man that always leases his madness on twitter avoid telling us there is hell in the north

This article is thought provoking

ikeyman00: @@

and that mad man that always leases his madness on twitter avoid telling us there is hell in the north

That guy is a joke ppl still insult him on twitter if you don't have respect for constituted authority no one would ever have respect for you.

Hmmm. Wonderful article.