A professor of political science and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Rufa’i Ahmed Alkali, has stated that the recent stereotyping of Northern Nigeria by veteran columnist Lasisi Olagunju, was wrong.
Prof Alkali described the column as unfair, provocative and dangerous to national unity.
Alkali was reacting to Olagunju’s article, in which the columnist argued that Northern Nigeria’s persistent security, educational and developmental challenges posed a grave threat to Nigeria’s future.
Olagunju, while lamenting the worsening insecurity across the country and the death of retired military officer, General Rabe Abubakar, likened the region to the Kalahari Desert and suggested that Nigeria needed leadership courageous enough to confront the North’s inability to speak out against insecurity.
However, Alkali said the article amounted to a sweeping indictment of millions of innocent Nigerians and failed to appreciate the complexity of the country’s challenges.
According to him, Olagunju chose a moment of national grief, when many families across the country are mourning victims of terrorism, banditry, insurgency and kidnapping, to apportion blame to an entire region rather than promote national reflection and solidarity.
“By the time one finishes reading the essay, one is left with the unmistakable impression that Northern Nigeria is not merely a region facing profound challenges but a geographical curse upon Nigeria. That conclusion is not only incorrect and unfair, it is also dangerous and provocative,” Alkali said.
The former university don acknowledged that Northern Nigeria was faced with serious security, educational and developmental challenges but insisted that recognising those realities should not translate to branding the region as “Nigeria’s enemy.”
He noted that some of the strongest voices demanding reforms and change have emerged from the North itself, including traditional rulers, scholars, religious leaders and civil society groups.
Alkali argued that the first and biggest victims of insurgency, banditry and terrorism have been Northern communities, citing thousands of deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihoods across states such as Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Kaduna.
“To suggest that Northern Nigeria is somehow collectively responsible for the crimes committed against Northern Nigeria itself is both illogical and unjust,” he stated.
Responding to Olagunju’s repeated use of the Kalahari Desert metaphor, Alkali said Northern Nigeria is home to some of Africa’s oldest civilisations and has produced generations of scholars, diplomats, military officers, public servants and entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly to Nigeria’s development.
He maintained that while Northern leaders and institutions could legitimately be criticised for policy failures, poor governance and educational neglect, no fair assessment should reduce an entire civilisation to a symbol of barrenness.
Alkali also expressed concern over suggestions that Nigeria requires a president willing to tell the North that it is the country’s enemy, warning that such rhetoric could deepen regional divisions and undermine national cohesion.
Arise News
