The Briefcase and the North: A lesson Nigeria has forgotten

By Kio Amachree

There was a time—not so long ago—when you could lose $110,000 in cash in Northern Nigeria and get it back untouched.

I know this because it happened to me. I had rushed through an airport in the north, late for a meeting, careless in the way only a man under pressure can be. My briefcase—unlocked—contained $110,000 in cash. By the time I realized what I had done, my heart sank. I had made, I thought, a catastrophic mistake. I rushed back.

An hour later, shaken, already calculating the loss, I approached airport security. They handed it to me. Everything intact. Every dollar untouched.

I offered a reward. They refused. “God is good,” they said. Later, when I relayed the story at the State House, the governor smiled and said something I have never forgotten:

“What else did you expect? This is the North—not Lagos.”

That was Nigeria. That was the North. A Different North Today. Something has changed. Not overnight. Not by accident. But steadily, relentlessly, over the past three decades.

Since the 1990s, Northern Nigeria has been drawn into a web of insecurity that would have been unthinkable in that earlier era. What began as localized tensions and governance weaknesses escalated into something far more dangerous: insurgency, banditry, and systemic breakdown of trust.

The rise of Boko Haram in 2009 marked a turning point. Tens of thousands have been killed. Millions displaced.

And it did not stop there. Kidnapping became an industry. Armed bandits took over rural territories. Villages were attacked. Schools emptied. Fear replaced routine.

Today, entire communities negotiate with criminals just to farm their land or send their children to school.

The North I once knew—where honesty was instinctive and dignity was cultural—now lives under siege.

What Was Lost This is not just a story about security. It is a story about values.

There was a moral order in that moment at the airport. A quiet code. No cameras. No headlines. Just men who knew right from wrong—and acted accordingly.

That is what has eroded. Not completely. Not irreversibly. But dangerously. When a society loses the expectation of honesty, it loses something deeper than money or safety—it loses its sense of itself.

The Real Question, So the question is not simply: “What happened to security in the North?”

The real question is: What happened to the Nigeria where a man could lose everything—and strangers would protect it as if it were their own?

Because until that question is answered, no number of soldiers, policies, or speeches will restore what has been lost.

A Memory Worth Fighting For: I carry that briefcase story with me not as nostalgia—but as evidence. Evidence that Nigeria was once different.

And therefore, can be again.

#Nigeria #NorthernNigeria #Leadership #Security #Values #Truth #KioAmachree