If Nigeria Is Not Divided, We Will Never Have Any Sense in the North

If Nigeria Is Not Divided, We Will Never Have Any Sense in the North

By Mohammed Bello Doka

There is a rumour circulating through Nigeria’s political underbelly that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, after completing his second term in office, is seriously considering the unthinkable: the formal division of the country. Could it be that the man from the South-West, who many believe has never fully embraced the idea of one Nigeria, has grown tired of the endless strain on our collective sanity? Could it be that the Northern experiment, which began with such promise in 1960, has finally revealed itself as a failed enterprise of monumental proportions?

And here is the question that should keep every Northerner awake at night: if the sword of division never falls, will the North ever produce a single ounce of sense?

My answer, as bitter as it may sound, is no.

Let us begin with the Northern elite. Their obsession with the federal purse is not merely an obsession; it is a pathology. For decades, the so-called leaders of the North have clung to federal revenue allocation like a drowning man clutching a piece of driftwood. They have been paid, rewarded, and accommodated repeatedly. What have they offered in return?

A region where children beg for food while governors travel in private jets. A region where life expectancy remains among the lowest in the country while politicians build mansions in Abuja, Dubai, and beyond. The Northern elite have turned federal allocations into a feeding bottle and have sucked it dry.

They have neglected the welfare of their people, failed to protect lives and property, and presided over a situation in which banditry, kidnapping, and insecurity have flourished. When villages are attacked and families are displaced, where are these leaders? They are often in Abuja, lobbying for more federal allocations, more appointments, and more privileges. To many of them, more public money simply translates into more wives, more mansions, and more luxury.

Then we have the educated class of the North. What a tragedy they have become.

Armed with degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, the University of Maiduguri, Bayero University Kano, and even prestigious foreign institutions, many have done little with their knowledge beyond decorating their résumés and feeding their egos. They sit in air-conditioned offices, write elegant policy papers that gather dust on shelves, and remain silent while their communities crumble.

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They know the solutions. They understand the economics. They see the decline unfolding in slow motion. Yet they refuse to speak, refuse to act, and refuse to lead. They have traded conscience for comfort and duty for government vehicles, foreign trips, generous allowances, and plaques celebrating questionable achievements. The educated Northern elite has become one of the most disappointing and self-serving classes in contemporary Nigeria.

Then there is the business elite.

Their philosophy appears simple: profit above all else. They have watched their region descend into chaos and, in many cases, found ways to benefit from it. Displaced communities require food. Insecurity creates opportunities for middlemen. Crisis becomes commerce.

Rather than investing substantially in agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, renewable energy, and other productive sectors that could transform the region, many prefer quick profits and short-term gains. They are not builders of lasting prosperity; they are beneficiaries of dysfunction.

Then we come to the so-called Yan Boko—the educated youth who should have become the vanguard of reform.

Instead, many have become willing instruments of political manipulation. They spread division disguised as conviction and bigotry disguised as piety. They have learned little from education except how to argue more eloquently and hate more efficiently. They march proudly toward their own ruin, armed with polished English and intellectual arrogance, while contributing little to meaningful change.

Let me be clear: I do not place primary blame on traditional rulers for the current crisis.

Their powers were stripped away long ago by military decrees and constitutional arrangements. Today, an emir cannot raise an army, levy taxes, or even discipline a district head without government approval. Traditional rulers have largely become ceremonial custodians of culture with very limited authority over governance and security.

However, I do blame many Islamic scholars.

You have failed, and failed spectacularly.

You spend your days arguing over minor ritual differences—whether a finger should be raised during supplication, how a beard should be worn, or which sect possesses the correct interpretation of doctrine. Qadiriyya versus Tijaniyya. Izala versus Darika. Endless disputes over labels and loyalties.

Meanwhile, the core teachings of Islam—justice, knowledge, accountability, compassion, and the advancement of society—receive far less attention. Where is the emphasis on education? Where is the call for economic productivity? Where is the reminder that Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves?

Too many scholars have transformed religion into a tool of control rather than enlightenment. An ignorant follower is easier to command. An informed follower asks questions, and questions threaten authority.

Although traditional rulers possess little real power today, many have also contributed to their own decline. Some have traded prestige and influence for financial rewards and political patronage. As a result, public respect has diminished. A traditional institution that cannot protect its people or meaningfully influence governance struggles to maintain moral authority.

And what of the ordinary Northern man?

He, too, has failed himself.

Too often, he has neglected the pursuit of knowledge. Too often, he has accepted sentiment in place of reason and emotion in place of evidence. He has allowed himself to become a tool in the hands of politicians and religious opportunists. He applauds leaders who mortgage his future and supports systems that perpetuate his own suffering.

The tragedy is that the North sits atop resources capable of transforming not only Nigeria but much of Africa.

Agriculture: vast grazing lands and fertile soil suitable for groundnuts, cotton, sorghum, maize, rice, and livestock production. The North could feed much of West Africa.

Solid minerals: gold in Zamfara, tin in Plateau, lead and zinc deposits across several states, limestone, barite, and countless other resources that remain underdeveloped.

Rare earth elements: strategic minerals that power smartphones, batteries, and modern technologies.

Energy resources: coal deposits, hydroelectric potential along major rivers, and abundant solar radiation capable of powering entire cities.

Human capital: a youthful population that, if properly educated and empowered, could become one of Africa’s greatest assets.

Yet what do we see?

Farmers driven from their lands by insecurity. Illegal mining operations enriching foreign interests while destroying the environment. Abandoned energy projects. Unemployment. Migration. Frustration. A generation either fleeing abroad or falling into cycles of crime, extremism, and hopelessness.

Compare this with other countries. Botswana discovered diamonds and built one of Africa’s most stable economies. Chile transformed copper into national prosperity. Norway turned oil wealth into a sovereign wealth fund designed to benefit future generations.

The North possesses resources comparable to, and in some cases greater than, those that transformed these nations. Yet it remains trapped in poverty, insecurity, and underdevelopment.

What the North needs is a baptism of fire—not the fire of violence, but the fire of a profound and unavoidable awakening.

The comfortable lies must be shattered. The false prophets must be challenged. The educated class must leave its comfort zones and engage directly with society’s problems. The business elite must contribute meaningfully to development. Ordinary citizens must recognize that no saviour is coming. They must save themselves.

That is why the title stands.

If Nigeria is not divided, we may never develop any sense in the North. Division would force the region to stand on its own feet. There would be no federal purse to blame, no Southern revenues to contest, and no convenient excuses. There would only be the North, its people, and its resources.

Would we survive? Or would we collapse?

The answer to that question would reveal whether we are capable of genuine self-reliance.

Perhaps separation is the only lesson the North has not yet ignored, resisted, or corrupted. Perhaps the breaking of Nigeria would force a long-overdue confrontation with our failures. It is a harsh prescription, but harsh illnesses sometimes require harsh remedies.

So let the rumour be true.

Let the North stand alone and prove its worth.

Because only when dependence ends will accountability begin. Only when external lifelines disappear will we discover whether we possess the wisdom, discipline, and determination required for survival.

My deepest fear is that we do not.

And if we do not, then division will merely expose what has always existed beneath the surface: a region blessed with immense wealth and potential, yet crippled by greed, complacency, and self-inflicted decline, waiting for the final verdict of history.

Mohammed Bello Doka

Abuja Network News

bellodoka82@gmail.com

If Nigeria Is Not Divided, We Will Never Have Any Sense in the North