The North Is Not Poor

By Aliyu Aliyu
“Some people see things that
are, and ask why? But I
dream things as they never
were, and I ask “Why Not? –
George Bernard Shaw
An interesting article titled ‘’
Derivation and Deprivation:
Why the North Is Poor’’ by a
certain Ross Alabo-George
which made the rounds in
various newspapers and
blogs has generated a
cacophony of record breaking
on-line responses, reactions
and rejoinders. A corollary to
the ‘‘disquisition’’, as
its author christened it, is the
number of articles that have
come to life with the theme
of the north’s usurpation of
the Niger Delta oil. Two
dominant categories of
responses have emerged on
account of the principal
theme of Ross’s thesis and
both betray the somberness
of our fusion or confusion as
a nation state. The elections
of 2011 brought to the fore
in unprecedented measures
the ethnic and religious
cleavages evident in our
existence. The Boko Haram
menace has further
compounded our national
woes and like old times
everything is being viewed
through the Muslim/
Christian and / the Hausa,
Ibo or Yoruba prism. The
torrential reactions /
responses from the Lagos-
Ibadan axis; and of the
south–south, south-east axis
see Ross’s piece as a
liberating one; a long awaited
elixir to damn the north (both
its elite and commoners).
To the Kaduna-Abuja press
and its fans north of the
Niger, the piece simply
exposes a man devoid of
objectivity, thoroughness and
balance; with a premeditated
agenda of painting the
northern oligarchy as the
major if not sole architect of
Nigeria’s perdition. The
northern oligarchy, in this
view, is seen as being
deliberately portrayed as
villains by Ross as the region
benefitting from the oil
flowing beneath the soles of
the Niger Deltans. This
disposition suggests that the
few northern barons listed in
his article do not of course
possess the monopoly of the
oil blocs in the Niger Delta
and he should have gone the
whole nine yards to list the
names of south southerners
and south easterners who
own oil blocs too. In-
between these two camps
are those who were boldly
objective and a number of
those who towed the path of
frivolous technicalities. Of the
latter are those who spent
time debating whether Mai
Deribe, Nasiru Ado Bayero,
Atiku Abubakar or Rilwanu
Lukman are Hausa, Kanuri,
Bachama, or Fulani men;
and whether Kano, Borno or
Niger is of the north-east, or
north-west or north-central.
The strain of comments
suggest that for every Mai
Deribe, Nasiru Ado Bayero,
T.Y. Danjuma, and co
mentioned, a James Ibori,
Dipreye Alamieyesiegha,
Peter Odili or Lucky
Igbinedion, etc exist who
have fleeced the Niger
Deltans in unimaginable
proportions. The question for
me of course is not about
whose loot is most mind-
boggling or which region
parades the bigger or more
ruthless thief; or that with
13% derivation and the
NDDC, the Niger Delta has
not become the Dubai of
Africa – no, but that if the
north cries “we are poor’’,
‘’we are poor’’, who
impoverished us? James
Ibori, Dipreye
Alamieyesiegha, Peter Odili
or Lucky Igbinedion? The
northern intelligentsia and its
political leadership must
deconstruct this hoax of
inflicted poverty by others
either by the perceived
disadvantageous revenue
allocation formula or the
imagined sabotage of the oil
drilling prospects in the
upper north basin for we
held the reins of power more
than any other region in this
country.
On the contrary the north is
in such pitiable and
unacceptable state of poverty
because of the actions and
inactions of our leaders who
have helped themselves,
members of their immediate
families, friends and cronies
generously with the public
resources put in their trust.
While it is true that at no
time did the north go it alone
– for where a northerner was
the number one man, a
different region produced the
number two man; the
Supreme Military Councils
and the Armed Forces Ruling
Council of the military
governments past, the
ministers of both military and
democratic governments of
the past were representative
of all of Nigeria with their
varied inputs to the
development or
underdevelopment of
Nigeria; but my focus here is
on the north.
While I do not in any way
hold brief for Ross, I must
say that his disquisition is a
powerfully engaging and
thought-provoking piece
which places a giant mirror in
front of the north. It would
have been better if he had
gone ahead to name the oil
block barons from other
regions, but then the context
within which the article was
written should be
appreciated.
Flashback:
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
(London) : On January 27,
2012, Sanusi while granting
an interview to the Financial
Times of London alleged that
the revenue allocation
formula skewed in favour of
the south-south as it were is
unfavourable to the north,
and by extension engenders
poverty which in turn is
fuelling Boko Haram and
sundry violence in the north.
Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu
(Minna): Taking a cue from
the Central Bank Governor,
the Chief Talker of Niger
State (a title I think fits him
much more than his current
one) and chairman of the
northern governors’ forum,
Muazu Babangida Aliyu called
for the re- evaluation of the
revenue allocation formula
that gives a
‘’whopping’’ 13% to
the south south and creates
two Nigerias: a prosperous
south and an impoverished
north. But aside his
loquaciousness, how has he
changed the lives of Niger
people with the
‘’little’’ he gets from
Abuja every month?
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (Kano):
On January 10, Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi made a most
morally ambiguous, and
professionally controversial
donation of N100 million to
victims of Kano State’s Boko
Haram bomb blast. Kano is
Sanusi’s home state of which
he is a prince and nurses an
open ambition of becoming
its emir.
Let it be stated that
throughout the length and
breadth of Nigeria, the
political class has been a
disappointment having failed
to chart a course of
foresighted prosperity and to
guarantee the people a
decent life. The power they
wielded and still do never
bore and still does not bear
the flames of altruism,
patriotism and love. It was
and still remains power
merely for power’s sake.
They succeeded and are still
enriching themselves beyond
comprehension and
accountability – at least here
on earth – and entrenching
corruption along the way a la
carte.
Beyond all of this however,
we the people of the north
must re- examine our socio-
economic, socio-political and
socio-cultural fundamentals
with a view to understanding
why we are where we are as
the dregs of Nigeria’s socio-
economic disaster. We must,
in all honesty, equally re-visit
the misinterpretation or
misapplication of our
religious fundamentals – be it
Christianity or Islam. Isn’t
there something
fundamentally wrong with a
system that perpetuates and
nearly glorifies and
encourages endemic poverty?
Away from the political
leadership and its statutory
obligation to the people lies
the question of individual/
private and group
intervention in the north and
that shall be the thrust of my
own disquisition; approaching
it from neither of two major
paradigms of criticisms
mentioned above. Why are
the billionaires in the north
not the type that give back to
society? Why are the
northern billionaires not
getting busy in touching
lives? Does it not shame us
and challenge them that the
Bill and Mellinda Gates
Foundation is so passionate
about combating the malaria
and polio blight in our
country? I cannot help but
ask myself what goes on in
the minds of our wealthy
Alhajis and retired Generals.
How about the Mac Arthur
Foundation, Carnegie,
Rockefeller, etc and their
interventions all around us?
Would building a dozen world
class primary and secondary
schools in Dangote’s ward or
local government with the
best of teachers and facilities
be such a reprehensible act?
Ironically it had to take
Rochas Okorocha miles away,
in Imo State, to build a
befitting school in Kano and
another one in Jos (which by
the way is tuition free in
addition to free lunch given
to the students). How many
Kanawa has Dangote
sponsored to Harvard to go
and study contemporary
entrepreneurship or to
Princeton; George
Washington?
The same applies to Alhaji
Dantata the construction
mogul (now of blessed
memory). How many people
from his local government
did he sponsor to go and
study civil engineering in
Paris, Germany or Italy? How
many people did Rilwanu
Lukman sponsor to go and
study petroleum engineering
or renewable / alternative/
clean energy having been in
the petroleum industry both
on the national and
international scenes for ages?
How many young men and
women do these people
mentor to follow in their
footsteps? Who for the love
of God inspires and
influences their thought
processes? How about the
Abachas, the IBBs the
Abdusalamis, the Atikus, the
TY Danjumas, the David
Marks, the Bamanga Tukurs
etc.
Is it not only logical and self-
evident that a mass literacy
revolution was and is still the
way to go? Is the South West
today not reaping the
massive literacy investment of
Awolowo? What then exactly
do our leaders discuss at
their ACF meetings? What
exactly do the 19 northern
governors discuss when they
meet – political power? to
zone or not to zone? the
perpetuation of PDP till
eternity? the turbaning of
dubious individuals and those
of questionable characters
with traditional titles (ably
rubber-stamped by colluding
emirs)? the marriage of
Generals’ daughters to
Ministers’ sons? The
continued oppression,
deprivation and neglect is
sadly responsible for the
menace of Boko Haram and
as it were, it shows no signs
of abating.
The thinking that the elite
could amass wealth and
unabashedly live in opulence
next door to life snatching
penury; send only their kids
off to London, France and
Dubai to come back as the
new breed of oppressors to
continue from where their
parents stopped oppressing
our parents and live in
privileged exclusivity is being
threatened. Now that we
all cannot sleep with our eyes
closed because we don’t
know where the next bombs
will go off, the north should
as a matter of sincere
urgency go back to the
drawing board and seek
redemption from itself. Time
is not on our side.
As the north battles with its
grip on political power, it
would be great to take a
close look at every other
aspect of the Nigerian project
where it trails behind the
south and east. The following
are my observations.
• To be continued
• Aliyu is a Masters Student
of Public and International
Affairs, University of Lagos.

#CONSENSUS 2015