₦airaland Forum

I must call out the glaring hypocrisy and selective outrage displayed by Northern leaders, the Northern Governors Forum, and Northern influencers in their response—or lack thereof—to the persistent crises plaguing Nigeria. Their recent vocal condemnation of the tragic burning of Northerners in Edo State, while a legitimate grievance, stands in stark contrast to their deafening silence on the rampant kidnapping, banditry, and violence perpetrated by elements from the North against Southern communities for years. This inconsistency exposes a troubling pattern of prioritizing regional loyalty over national unity and justice, undermining their moral authority and revealing a leadership that is either complicit or willfully blind to the suffering inflicted by their own.

The Northern Governors Forum, a body ostensibly tasked with addressing the region's challenges, has repeatedly failed to confront the scourge of banditry and kidnapping that has spilled beyond Northern borders into the South. These acts of terror—often carried out by Northern-based criminal networks—have devastated Southern families, disrupted livelihoods, and fueled a climate of fear, yet the Forum’s response has been tepid at best. Where are the press conferences, the unified statements, or the actionable plans to dismantle these criminal enterprises? Instead, they muster outrage only when Northerners are victims, as seen in Edo State, while ignoring the blood of Southerners shed by Northern hands. This selective empathy is not leadership—it’s tribalism masquerading as governance.

Northern influencers, often quick to shape narratives on social media and in public discourse, are equally culpable. Their loud lamentations over the Edo incident ring hollow when juxtaposed with their silence on atrocities like the mob killing of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto in 2022—a barbaric act carried out by a Northern mob over alleged blasphemy. Where was their indignation then? Where is their condemnation of the countless abductions of Southern schoolchildren, farmers, and travelers by bandits traceable to Northern territories? These influencers, with their platforms and sway, have a responsibility to call out injustice universally, not just when it suits a regional agenda. Their cherry-picking of causes betrays a lack of integrity and perpetuates a narrative that Northern lives matter more than others.

The failure of these leaders and voices to address the kidnapping and banditry crisis—crimes that have disproportionately harmed Southerners while often being orchestrated by Northern perpetrators—suggests either incompetence or tacit approval. For years, Southern communities have borne the brunt of these attacks, with little more than platitudes from Northern leadership. The brutal murder of Deborah, the abductions in Ogun, Ondo, and Enugu, and the relentless banditry in the Middle Belt and beyond—all met with shrugs or excuses—paint a damning picture. Yet, the moment Northerners suffer in the South, the same leaders who ignored these horrors suddenly find their voices. This is not just a failure of accountability; it’s a betrayal of Nigeria’s fragile unity.

If Northern leaders and influencers truly seek justice, they must first look inward. Condemning violence against Northerners while ignoring the violence Northerners inflict on others is not principled—it’s opportunistic. The Northern Governors Forum should lead with decisive action against banditry, not just rhetoric when their own are harmed. Influencers must amplify all cries for justice, not just those that align with their regional identity. Until they confront the sins within their domain with the same fervor they decry those without, their criticisms will remain hollow, their leadership suspect, and their influence a tool of division rather than progress. Nigeria deserves better than this double standard.

FreeThinker from Pluto

You can't tell people how you want them to cry. Nobody stop the South from crying the way they want, same way you can't tell the north how they will cry over something. We are all victims of insecurity in Nigeria but telling someone to shut up in the face of injustice because his people also met out injustice to others is a height of wickedness. If this is the case then we are in anarchy

Aonkuuse:
You can't tell people how you want them to cry. Nobody stop the South from crying the way they want, same way you can't tell the north how they will cry over something. We are all victims of insecurity in Nigeria but telling someone to shut up in the face of injustice because his people also met out injustice to others is a height of wickedness. If this is the case then we are in anarchy

The argument that "you can't tell people how to cry" misses the point entirely—it’s not about dictating grief, but exposing hypocrisy. Northern leaders and influencers have a platform and a responsibility to address all injustices, not just those that affect their own.

Their silence on the South’s suffering, like the killing of Deborah and rampant banditry, while loudly mourning Edo’s victims, isn’t just selective crying—it’s a deliberate choice to ignore the pain their region has inflicted. This isn’t about silencing the North’s grief; it’s about demanding consistency. Claiming victimhood while dismissing others’ bloodied history isn’t justice—it’s privilege. In a nation teetering on the edge of anarchy, such double standards only deepen the divide.

If Northern leaders want unity and justice, they should also take responsibility for the wrongs committed by their own people, instead of only crying out when they are the victims.

True unity requires accountability, not excuses.

FreeThinker from Pluto

This is going to ignite a serious war, not minding what has been happening all these while

FreeThinkerPlut:
The argument that "you can't tell people how to cry" misses the point entirely—it’s not about dictating grief, but exposing hypocrisy. Northern leaders and influencers have a platform and a responsibility to address all injustices, not just those that affect their own.

Their silence on the South’s suffering, like the killing of Deborah and rampant banditry, while loudly mourning Edo’s victims, isn’t just selective crying—it’s a deliberate choice to ignore the pain their region has inflicted. This isn’t about silencing the North’s grief; it’s about demanding consistency. Claiming victimhood while dismissing others’ bloodied history isn’t justice—it’s privilege. In a nation teetering on the edge of anarchy, such double standards only deepen the divide.

If Northern leaders want unity and justice, they should also take responsibility for the wrongs committed by their own people, instead of only crying out when they are the victims.

True unity requires accountability, not excuses.

FreeThinker from Pluto

The question asked is are they not facing insecurity in their region... The answer is yes , boko haram, iswap, kidnappers herdsmen attack are rampant in the north, insecurity in the north is more than d south, did southern governors ever met to discuss that...the answer is No cos its not in their region ..so let the northern gov grief in whatever form they feel... The base line here is that Life is lost and if truly we cherish life we should all come together to condemn it in unity and in its entirety ...q

Truth is that no Southerners is armed with guns bow and arrow, machetes and axes in Sokoto or sambisa forest moving about freely killed HausafulaniKanuri Muslims North till date None 📅

So why would HausafulaniKanuri Muslims be roaming about the Southern rain forest freely with guns?

REDshouse:
The question asked is are they not facing insecurity in their region... The answer is yes , boko haram, iswap, kidnappers herdsmen attack are rampant in the north, insecurity in the north is more than d south, did southern governors ever met to discuss that...the answer is No cos its not in their region ..so let the northern gov grief in whatever form they feel... The base line here is that Life is lost and if truly we cherish life we should all come together to condemn it in unity and in its entirety ...q

Look, I get that the North faces Boko Haram, ISWAP, and herdsmen attacks—terrible insecurities, no doubt. But let’s not pretend the North isn’t the source of much of the South’s pain. Who’s behind the kidnappings, the banditry, the terror in Southern villages? Northern herdsmen, Northern gangs—not the other way around. And what have Northern leaders done? They’ve encouraged it through silence, not condemned it. If they can grieve for Edo, why not for the South’s countless losses caused by their region? Unity means owning your role in the chaos, not just crying when it hits home. Condemn all of it—or none at all.

FreeThinker from Pluto

I think it's high time, the Government Wade into this matter

You are a heartless person oo, the north condemned IPOB senseless killings not long ago and what happened?? The South came for their heads. You want to justify the killing of more than 16 people for what? These people in the picture, so they even look like Fulani herdsmen??

FreeThinkerPlut:
The argument that "you can't tell people how to cry" misses the point entirely—it’s not about dictating grief, but exposing hypocrisy. Northern leaders and influencers have a platform and a responsibility to address all injustices, not just those that affect their own.

Their silence on the South’s suffering, like the killing of Deborah and rampant banditry, while loudly mourning Edo’s victims, isn’t just selective crying—it’s a deliberate choice to ignore the pain their region has inflicted. This isn’t about silencing the North’s grief; it’s about demanding consistency. Claiming victimhood while dismissing others’ bloodied history isn’t justice—it’s privilege. In a nation teetering on the edge of anarchy, such double standards only deepen the divide.

If Northern leaders want unity and justice, they should also take responsibility for the wrongs committed by their own people, instead of only crying out when they are the victims.

True unity requires accountability, not excuses.

FreeThinker from Pluto

Aonkuuse:
You are a heartless person oo, the north condemned IPOB senseless killings not long ago and what happened?? The South came for their heads. You want to justify the killing of more than 16 people for what? These people in the picture, so they even look like Fulani herdsmen??

I’ll cut to the chase: Northern leaders and influencers stayed silent on Deborah Yakubu’s brutal killing in Sokoto in 2022, dismissing it as trivial, yet raged when Hausa hunters were killed in Edo. If that’s not hypocrisy, what is?

I don’t support the Edo killings—those deaths were tragic—but I’m exposing the North’s deliberate double standards. Their silence on Deborah while mourning their own suggests they see Southern lives as worthless. This isn’t just selective outrage; it’s a clear message that, to them, Southern blood doesn’t count. Hypocrisy at its ugliest.

We need to start holding the Northern leaders accountable for perpetuating systemic oppression against other regions.

FreeThinker from Pluto

90% of killings, terror, kidnappings and farm destruction in the South West, South East etc are done by wicked elements FROM THE NORTH and no other tribe.
Let the North stop their hypocrisy.

FreeThinkerPlut:
I’ll cut to the chase: Northern leaders and influencers stayed silent on Deborah Yakubu’s brutal killing in Sokoto in 2022, dismissing it as trivial, yet raged when Hausa hunters were killed in Edo. If that’s not hypocrisy, what is?

I don’t support the Edo killings—those deaths were tragic—but I’m exposing the North’s deliberate double standards. Their silence on Deborah while mourning their own suggests they see Southern lives as worthless. This isn’t just selective outrage; it’s a clear message that, to them, Southern blood doesn’t count. Hypocrisy at its ugliest.

We need to start holding the Northern leaders accountable for perpetuating systemic oppression against other regions.

FreeThinker from Pluto

He will never reply

All these Tinubu agbado people can defend anything

REDshouse:
The question asked is are they not facing insecurity in their region... The answer is yes , boko haram, iswap, kidnappers herdsmen attack are rampant in the north, insecurity in the north is more than d south, did southern governors ever met to discuss that...the answer is No cos its not in their region ..so let the northern gov grief in whatever form they feel... The base line here is that Life is lost and if truly we cherish life we should all come together to condemn it in unity and in its entirety ...q

You raised many false premises for your argument. One of them is about southern governors. When was the last time you heard about southern governors meeting? That's because the FG doesn't permit it. You sounded shallow and ignorant of the basic history of this country.
Sounds odd that so called northern governors from Benue, Plateau, and Taraba joined in this condemnation, but nobody has ever condemned the atrocity of the Fulani herdsmen in their own states.