Arewa At A Crossroad: A Wake-up Call to Our Young Generation

Arewa At A Crossroad: A Wake-up Call to Our Young Generation

By Hayatuddeen Aliyu

There comes a time in the life of a people when silence is no longer an option. There comes a time when we must put aside political affiliations, personal interests, and the politics of blame, and ask ourselves one honest question:

Where is Arewa heading?

Today, the situation in many parts of Northern Nigeria demands serious reflection. Our challenges are visible in almost every sector of life—education, healthcare, roads, electricity, water supply, employment, infrastructure, security, and, most importantly, leadership.

This is not an attack on any individual, political party, or government. It is a call for self-examination, accountability, and a new direction.

Education: Our Greatest Emergency

The North can not afford to continue falling behind in education. A region with one of the largest populations of young people in Africa should be leading in knowledge, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Instead, many of our children still struggle to access quality schools, competent teachers, learning facilities, and opportunities for higher education.

Our young people are our greatest resource. If we fail to educate them today, we will spend tomorrow dealing with the consequences of unemployment, poverty, insecurity, and hopelessness.

Healthcare

Healthcare facilities in many communities remain inadequate. People travel long distances to access basic medical services, while some hospitals lack essential equipment, medicines, and personnel.

We can not continue to measure development by political speeches and commissioning ceremonies alone. A government is successful when an ordinary citizen can access quality healthcare without selling his property or travelling hundreds of kilometres.

Roads and Infrastructure

The condition of many roads across the North remains a serious concern. Roads connect farmers to markets, students to schools, and patients to hospitals and businesses to customers.

Infrastructure is not a luxury. It is the foundation of economic development.

We must therefore ask: Are we receiving our fair share of development, and are we also demanding accountability for the resources allocated to our region?

Electricity and Economic Development

No region can develop sustainably without reliable electricity.

Our young people can not compete effectively in the digital economy when businesses, schools, and homes continue to depend heavily on generators and alternative sources of power.

The North needs a deliberate economic strategy built around electricity, agriculture, technology, manufacturing, education, and entrepreneurship.

Leadership: The Question We Must Not Run Away From

Perhaps the most important issue is leadership.

We must stop asking only, “What has the government done for us?”

We should also ask:

What have our leaders done with the opportunities they have received?

When our people are appointed to important political offices, what measurable benefits do those appointments bring to the communities they represent?

When billions of naira are allocated to projects in our region, where are the projects? Are they completed? Are they functioning? Are they sustainable?

And when our sons and daughters occupy positions of influence, are they opening doors for the next generation, or are they merely protecting their personal political interests?

These are uncomfortable questions, but a society that is afraid to ask difficult questions can not change its circumstances.

The Question of Political Representation

We must also look beyond emotions when comparing political representation and government appointments.

Wherever the President or any government has invested public resources, we should objectively examine the amount allocated, projects delivered, appointments made, institutions established, and opportunities created rather than relying on rumours or political narratives.

If other regions are successfully negotiating for their interests, then Arewa must also learn to negotiate intelligently and strategically.

Our problem should not be merely that other regions are getting more. Our problem should be whether our own leaders are doing enough to secure what our people deserve.

A WAKE-UP CALL TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

This is particularly a message to the young people of Northern Nigeria.

Wake up.

Politics can not continue to be about defending politicians blindly.

We must stop fighting ourselves over political parties while those we defend sit together after elections and negotiate their own interests.

We must stop celebrating appointments simply because someone from our state or ethnic group has been appointed.

Ask what that person is doing with the position.

Ask what policies are being implemented.

Ask how many young people are being empowered.

Ask what infrastructure is being delivered.

Ask how many schools, hospitals, roads, industries, and jobs are being created.

Representation without development is not enough.

Our young people must become educated, politically conscious, economically independent, and technologically competitive.

We need young lawyers, doctors, engineers, academics, entrepreneurs, farmers, technologists, administrators, and political leaders who understand that leadership is a responsibility—not an opportunity for personal enrichment.

WE MUST ALSO LOOK INWARD

Let us be honest with ourselves.

Not every problem in Arewa is caused by Abuja.

Some of our problems are caused by poor local leadership, corruption, lack of accountability, weak institutions, poverty, insecurity, illiteracy, and our unwillingness to demand better governance.

We can not demand accountability from the federal government while refusing to demand accountability from our governors, legislators, local government chairmen, and other leaders.

We must hold every level of government accountable.

THE NORTH MUST DEVELOP A NEW POLITICAL CULTURE

Arewa needs a new political culture—one based on ideas rather than personality, competence rather than sentiment, performance rather than propaganda, and development rather than political patronage.

Our young people must begin to ask candidates:

What is your education policy?

What is your healthcare plan?

What will you do about electricity?

How will you create jobs?

How will you improve agriculture?

What is your plan for roads and infrastructure?

How will you attract investment?

What will you do about insecurity?

How will you use public resources transparently?

After elections, we must continue asking those questions.

A MESSAGE TO OUR LEADERS

To our political leaders, traditional leaders, academics, businessmen, professionals, and public servants:

History will judge us by what we leave behind.

The North does not lack human resources. We have brilliant young people. We have fertile land. We have enormous agricultural potential. We have universities and institutions. We have businessmen, professionals, and intellectuals capable of transforming the region.

What we need is vision, unity of purpose, accountability, and courageous leadership.

CONCLUSION

This is not a call for confrontation.

It is a call for awakening.

It is a call for our young generation to realise that the future of Arewa can not be secured by waiting for politicians to save us.

We must save ourselves through education, hard work, innovation, political participation, entrepreneurship, and responsible leadership.

Let us demand our fair share of national development—but let us also ensure that whatever comes to the North is properly utilised.

Let us support good leaders regardless of their political party.

Let us reject bad leadership regardless of who provides it.

And let us remember that the North will not change merely because we complain about our condition. It will change when a new generation decides that enough is enough and begins to take responsibility for its future.

Arewa must wake up.

Our young people must wake up.

Our leaders must wake up.

The future is not waiting for us. The future is already being created—and we must decide whether we will be creators or merely spectators.

Hayatuddeen Aliyu Esq. is the legal adviser to the Federal University of Education, Zaria