Atiku Warns North Against Disunity

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Friday urged northern leaders to urgently rebuild unity and refocus on education, agriculture, and industrial development, warning that the region risks being left behind in a competitive global environment.

Speaking in Kaduna at the 25th anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum’s Dinner and Award Night, Atiku said the ACF was conceived to unite the North and drive development after years of fragmentation.

He recalled that when the PDP government assumed office in 1999, “we met a divided North”, with political groups split around the late President Shehu Shagari, the late Dr Sola Saraki and the late Abdurrahman Okene.

“The first thing we did was to unite the North. I set up a team led by the Emir of Ilorin, HRH Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, to go round the North and bring these groups together. It was not easy, but we were able to coalesce into one platform under the chairmanship of General Yakubu Gowon and the executive leadership of the late M.D. Yusufu,” he said..

Atiku said the ACF’s original mandate was not only to forge unity but also to drive development in line with the priorities set by the late Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who had identified education, agriculture and industry as the pillars of northern progress.

Quoting Bello’s 1961 address, he noted: “We shall use trained manpower and modern methods to assist our people in improving these resources… to bring water and with it farming and prosperity to arid areas”

He added that Bello also stressed the need for “peace and stability… which will allow our education to develop, our agriculture to flourish, our industry to expand, and investment to take place.”

The former vice president lamented that the North appeared stuck where it was two decades ago, despite earlier attempts to revive education and expand agricultural and industrial capacity under the National Development Program he initiated in office.

“We took stock of our education and found it in shambles. We doubled enrolments and boosted transition rates, yet today, many of the old problems remain,” he added.

On industry, he added: “Energy poverty, finance, raw materials and multiple taxation were major obstacles. Amazingly, two decades later, we appear still to be where we were.”

Warning that disunity remained the greatest threat to northern progress, Atiku said the region had failed to properly manage its diversity despite models in countries with far more ethnic complexity.

“China has 56 ethnic groups; India has about 2,500. Yet they have managed their diversities and made concrete strides. Why can’t we do better?” he asked.

He accused unnamed adversaries of exploiting technology to sow division for selfish interests, adding, “Their target is our God-given wealth. We have seen the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we must not relent.”

Atiku tasked northern leaders to confront the future with urgency, citing Nigeria’s projected population surge.

“How do we feed, educate and provide jobs for hundreds of millions?” he asked. “The 21st century will not accept complacency or leadership without vision.”

He appealed to the region to unite, saying, “If there is any time for the North to unite, it is now. We must resist those trying to divide us along ethnic or religious lines.”

He added, “Let us ask ourselves how we want to be remembered — as leaders who made sacrifices, or those who only buttered their bread.”