Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said that, Nigeria consists of two countries: a developing South, and a backward, less educated and unhealthy North, with the highest number of poor people in the world.
El-Rufai equally lamented that the northern region has development indicators similar to that of Afganistan, a country at war.

Speaking in Kaduna on Saturday at the Northern Youth Summit organised by Northern Hibiscus, an NGO, El-Rufai however said that the problems of the region must be addressed collectively as a group of 19 northern states governors, not as individual states.
El-Rufai said the summit whose theme was “Awakening the Arewa Spirit,” was very timely, adding that “when we talk about awakening the spirit, it means the spirit is either sleeping or dead. Therefore, this summit is very important, just like our keynote address speaker has said.

“But, looking at the statistics, Nigeria appears to be a middle-income country. But, if we segregate those statistics across states and zones, you will see that in terms of human development indicators, Nigeria consists of two countries; there is a backward, less educated and unhealthy northern Nigeria and a developing, largely educated and healthy southern Nigeria.

“We have to speak the truth to ourselves and ask why is it that northern Nigeria has development indicators similar to Afganistan, a country still at war?
“We have the largest number of poor people in the world, most of them in northern Nigeria. Nigeria also has the largest number of out-of-school children, virtually all of them in Northern Nigeria.

“Northern Nigeria has become the centre of drug abuse, gender violence, banditry, kidnapping and terrorism. We have also been associated with high divorce rate and breakdown of families. These are the challenges that confront us. This is the naked truth that we have to tell ourselves.

“We must, therefore, as leaders at all levels have a conversation about the way forward for our part of the country. Because increasingly, as many of you must have seen on social media, we are being considered as the parasite of the federal economy, even though, that is not entirely true. Because northern Nigeria still feeds the nation. The richest businessman in Nigeria is still Aliko Dangote, not someone from southern Nigeria, thank God for that.

“So, we still have a lot to be proud of. We should be proud of our culture and tradition, as well as unity. You hardly can find someone from northern Nigeria convicted of 419 or being aYahoo boy. That is something we should be proud of.

“We are generally considered to be more honest and less corrupt than other Nigerians. That is something we should be proud of. In addition, our demographic superiority gives us a very powerful tool to negotiate in politics. And that is something we should be proud of, and we should preserve. So, we have every reason to unite and not be divided.

“I, therefore, call on you the youth; you account for 80 per cent of the northern population and the future of this region lies in your hands, not in the hands of Dinosaurs like me. I’m 59 and among the oldest five per cent of the northern population. I shouldn’t even be governor; I should have been governor ten years ago. But ‘na condition make crayfish bend,’ so we are here.
“But, why are we here? In my view, we are here to prepare the next generation of leaders. That is why the agenda for this summit is very important. So, you should take the panel discussions very seriously and come up with very clear and implementable decisions that you will circulate to all of us elected to lead in northern Nigeria.

“I urge Northern Hibiscus to send recommendations from this summit to the Chairman of northern state governors’ forum. We have to do something about the situation of northern Nigeria and we must do so as a group of 19 governors, not individual state governors.” El-Rufai said.

Also speaking, the sponsor of the event and immediate past Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin said, while the North was in dire situation, the region has not lost everything. “There is growth everywhere and so many leaders have emerged.”

Jibrin who analysed the need to reawaken the Arewa spirit on sociocultural, economic and political spheres, said family unit remains the bigger challenge faced in the region as it contributes to high rate of divorce, late marriages, drug abuse and destitution.

Looking at the economic aspect, he noted the need for job and wealth creation to build businesses, understanding competition, marketing and funding in entrepreneurship. He said there is little or no money available at commercial banks to loan small and medium enterprises because government borrows an average of N1 trillion annually with N600 billion to N700 billion interest from first line charge.

The lawmaker called for role models across board, adding that “we have to mould leaders, we have to create ourselves into leaders,” he said.

In her opening remarks, founder of Northern Hibiscus Initiative, Aisha Falke, said the summit was organised to examine the numerous challenges of the North, with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.

She also disclosed that, Northern Hibiscus had also taken the bull by the horn with a 16-year action to empower the youths with useful skills, especially those who are not privileged to have formal education.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/nigeria-country-of-backward-north-developing-south-el-rufai/

True talk

Okay.

Lol...

Succinctly put.

The short man has always been very brilliant aside his penchant to lean towards the bigotry most times.

If you no tell yourself the honest truth nobody go tell you.

Their belief as a religious people contribute a larger percentage to their backwardness...They orientation base on that.

Some idiots in the south want this one as president or vice president??.

El Rufai is just a bigot, is it our fault the northern leaders stole the money the South LP bring into developing the north.

Lord Lugard, may you continue to rot in hell.

To me the speech is nothing but deceit.
Believe El-rufai at your own peril.

Upon sey power na una second name.

daddytime:
Lol...

Succinctly put.

The short man has always been very brilliant aside his penchant to lean towards the bigotry most times.

If you no tell yourself the honest truth nobody go tell you.

True. They pretty much provided no solution to the numerous problems. I would have thought the theme could have been "challenges of open grazing and economic benefits of ranching". That would have made it worthwhile. That sector trumps oil and gas if managed commercially across the value chain and would create numerous jobs for the youths.

tiwiex:


True. They pretty much provided no solution to the numerous problems. I would have thought the theme could have been "challenges of open grazing and economic benefits of ranching". That would have made it worthwhile. That sector trumps oil and gas if managed commercially across the value chain and would create numerous jobs for the youths.

You sabi book my friend..chai

Great.

Sai El Rufai

The Northern governors are always United unlike the South.

Northern leaders always show up to/organize fancy summits to repeat the same thing over and over again yet many of them are unwilling to provide any solutions. Some are even more interested in adding to the problems.
They will lament and say we need population control yet the same people will go and organize mass weddings (then turn around and complain about divorce rates) when that money can be channeled somewhere more productive; they will sponsor pilgrimage but not education; they will complain about VVF but refuse to legally protect female children. They are complaining about illiteracy but how many of them have any plans for almajiri children? The ones that even need to be here are no where to be found. Who is fooling who?
It's good for us to know our problems but it's more important for us to solve them. Repeating the same problems (and more every few years) will not take us anywhere. The North (and the core North in particular) is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Is that not folly? Before Boko Haram there was the Maitatsine sect. After Boko Haram there will be another one because there is a steady supply of iliterate, ignorant young people whose leaders are only interested in being re-elected. Meanwhile we'll probably have another summit in another few months reminding us of the exact same problems without providing any solutions.

It's the usual Fulani crisis management... the Ruga saga started seeing segregation of the Fulanis from the hausas, that is why it was promptly stopped and Unity meetings and forums arranged amongst various northern groups.

Nogodye:
Their belief as a religious people contribute a larger percentage to their backwardness...They orientation base on that.

You mean the same religion that is practiced in developed Dubai?
Religion has nothing to do with this, Nigeria as a whole is just one giant ghetto. What about the poor state of roads, health care and electricity, will you blame that on religion too? Mkpi

Yes agree with you that all the ''negatives'' reside in the North,that the negative North developing the positive South is a no talk,you don't give that you have not

This is why northern Nigeria has remained backwards

El rufai is just waking up to what sanusi has since been saying. U ppl have been using the almajerri system to ur advantage now ur day has broken. Although something tells me that El rufai is already campaigning for 2023

General0847:


You mean the same religion that is practiced in developed Dubai?
Religion has nothing to do with this, Nigeria as a whole is just one giant ghetto. What about the poor state of roads, health care and electricity, will you blame that on religion too? Mkpi

don't attend to dunces who all they know is to blame religion on everything bad about the useless country...

Religion has little or nothing to do with the crass level of underdevelopment in Nigeria, even crime and other things has little connection with religion. But idiots always find a way to blame it on religion because of course it's safer for them than to say it; their politicians who they worship like gods are responsible.

The south is not poor, it is the North and their illiterate rulers that keep draining our resources and dragging us back.

El Rufai, the problem of the North is YOU AND ALL OTHER NORTHERN ELITE. You people use religion to deceive those ones, steal their resources and party to Damascus, while telling them Allah created them the way they are with a promise of heaven and 72 virgins.

z

All northern problems is summarised in one. Religion. Northern Nigeria practices is a kind of Islam that encourages.

1. Human deprivation.
2. Enforces, a slave-master system.
3. Scuffles Individual freedom.
4. Down plays education.

With all these human development is near zero thus the North remains backward and the only solution is to shift from this "I go die Islam" to a liberalised Islam, one the encourages freedom to be distinct, promotes education etc.

N. B I served in the North so I can tell you whole heartedly that they practice Islam of forceful inclusion, individuals don't have a say in their own life, because it is either you are with us or against us.
In the North even the Elites plays to the galary to remain on top of the food chain even if the know otherwise.

Any mooroon or Dunce knows all of Northern Nigerian Problem, however only reasonable responsible people would come up with workeable solution and not lament all the time.. Aisha Buhari laments.. fools hail her, Sanusi laments fools hail her, now El rufai is lamenting and same fools hail him, how about.coming.up with workeable solutions?

As someone with equal family from both North and Southwest, growing up in Soutuwest and visiting north quite often, i can boldly say it that the worst southwestern Governor is better than the Best Northern Governor..

I'll chronicle progression of Tinubu-Fashola, Ajimobi-Makinde SW, vis a vis Audu-Idris-Bello, and Makarfi-Elrufai North..

Financially, owing to the numbers of Local Goverments Northern States has, for the same population and land mass of SouthWest, Northern States earn atleast 2 to 3 times what Southwestern State earns.

But Compare what they earn side by side with developmental project?

How many tertiary instituition both private and public does Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina has? Compared to Lagos Ogun and Oyo.

In terms of Mass Transport, which Northern State has a functional BRT or light rail construction ungoing at 2019 or even atall atall Ajumose busses which of their state has?



.


..

Radical Islam is the problem of northern Nigeria

Excuse to continue pushing more federal agencies to the north.

Born2Breed:
The North is always United unlike the South.

The North is never united like you think. If having NGF is what you call unity, then pele.

Anambralstson:
In addition, our demographic superiority gives us a very powerful tool to negotiate in politics.

This is where the problem of the North lies.

As far you guys continue weaponizing it as a political warhead, the North will always be gone forever. To fix the North, fix your population.

Fulani cattle industry alone is an 2 Trillion per annum industry if modernize but the idiats have their heads too deep at paralyzing the south that they forgot their own potentials.

With the South deeply considering animal husbandry in large scale, the Fulani's industry would be crippled and they will lose a good Forex leverage in the event of a future arewa republic.

The North has the largest deposit of quarry sites, but selfishness will not allow them to develop it. Right now, Cross Rivers, Rivers, Okigwe and Nkalagu controls the market in the East. I don't know where the SW gets theirs.

Invariably, the North has lost another money spinning venture.

The North boosts of the largest arable land for agriculture and should be right, control the food market in the South and entire West Africa, this would have been a multi-trillion naira market but their parasitic nature won't allow them to develop the industry and today, the South is looking towards Benue and if Benue gets her acts right, the can sign bilateral trade with the southern states to supply them with food.

If done appropriately, Benue alone with control over 600 billion per annum food market. This will cripple the North.

We pity the North, should the country divide, the MB are having their own separate country.

The North should wake up.