At some point, Northern Nigeria must ask itself an uncomfortable question:
Who is behaving more foolishly — the northern masses or the northern elite?
And perhaps the more frightening question is this:
How much more foolish can the North become before there is nothing left to save?
The signs are everywhere.
We watch so-called scholars gather around politicians, reportedly to benefit from hundreds of millions of naira, and the ordinary people sit quietly, still attending their sermons, still treating every word they say as sacred, still refusing to ask whether religious authority has become another branch of political patronage.
Where is the outrage?
Where is the independence?
Where is the courage to ask whether some of those who preach morality to the poor have become comfortable dining with the powerful?
A scholar should stand above politicians.
A scholar should fear God more than he fears losing access to Government House.
But what happens when the people no longer know the difference between scholarship and political loyalty?
What happens when silence itself begins to look purchased?
Then there is the spectacle of politicians driving through poor communities and throwing money into crowds for people to scramble over.
Think about the humiliation in that image.
A politician sits comfortably inside a vehicle, protected, wealthy and powerful, while desperate citizens fight over notes thrown at them like scraps.
And nobody asks why.
Nobody asks how the people became so poor that a few banknotes can buy applause.
Nobody asks why the politician is rich enough to throw money away while the people are poor enough to chase it.
Instead, we clap.
We cheer.
We call it generosity.
It is not generosity.
It is humiliation dressed as politics.
And still the North remains quiet.
Then we look at the political elite.
The Vice-President travels to the United Kingdom and visits Chagoury.
Northern Nigeria has spent decades talking about pride, honour, independence and political strength.
Where is that pride now?
Where is the famous Kanuri pride?
Where is northern political dignity?
Must every road eventually lead to the powerful men behind the throne?
Must loyalty always be pledged upward while ordinary northerners are left struggling below?
Perhaps Chagoury gave him some dollars there, since Tinubu appears to have cut him away from any meaningful influence in government.
That is the level to which northern political relevance is being reduced.
We boast about producing a Vice-President, yet what exactly has that produced for the ordinary northerner?
Titles do not educate children.
Titles do not stop kidnappers.
Titles do not build hospitals.
Titles do not create jobs.
Titles do not protect farmers.
If your son is Vice-President and your people remain poorer, less secure and less educated, what exactly are you celebrating?
Meanwhile, northerners are being killed.
Communities are being attacked.
Families are burying their dead.
People are kidnapped from their homes and farms.
Yet governors from states such as Katsina, Kaduna and Niger can still find time to travel abroad, attend polo tournaments and enjoy the privileges of office.
There is something obscene about this picture.
People are dying while their leaders are socialising.
Villages are under threat while political convoys move safely.
Families are raising ransom money while those who govern them travel comfortably around the world.
And still the people defend them.
Still they fight for them on social media.
Still they insult anyone who questions them.
Still they vote based on tribe, religion, party and sentiment.
At what point does loyalty become stupidity?
At what point does patience become surrender?
At what point does silence become participation in your own destruction?
The northern masses are also busy distracting themselves.
TikTok.
Entertainment.
Celebrity gossip.
Political praise-singing.
Religious arguments.
Tribal arguments.
Endless noise.
Meanwhile, the North is being cut off from the industries that will define the future.
Education.
Technology.
Financial services.
Professional services.
Innovation.
Research.
Modern agriculture.
Artificial intelligence.
Digital commerce.
These sectors are moving forward whether Northern Nigeria is ready or not.
The world is not waiting for Arewa.
The South is not waiting.
Asia is not waiting.
Europe is not waiting.
The children learning coding, finance, science, engineering and artificial intelligence today will control the industries of tomorrow.
And what are millions of northern young people being prepared for?
Another election rally?
Another political slogan?
Another TikTok trend?
Another argument about which politician loves the North?
This should terrify every serious northerner.
A population that is poorly educated can easily be manipulated.
A population that is poor can easily be bought.
A population that is permanently distracted can easily be ruled.
And a population that worships politicians will never hold politicians accountable.
This is exactly where the North is heading.
The tragedy is not simply that northern politicians deceive the people.
The greater tragedy is that the people keep allowing themselves to be deceived.
How many times must the same trick be performed?
Election approaches.
Suddenly politicians discover religion.
They discover traditional rulers.
They discover poverty.
They discover the streets.
They remember the almajiri.
They remember farmers.
They remember widows.
They remember young people.
They distribute food.
They distribute money.
They make promises.
They invoke religion and ethnicity.
Votes are cast.
Election ends.
The gates close again.
And the people return to suffering.
Four years later, the same performance begins.
And somehow, people behave as if they have never seen it before.
When will the North wake up?
When will blind followership end?
When will northerners understand that a politician sharing your religion does not make him your friend?
When will they understand that speaking Hausa does not automatically make someone a defender of northern interests?
When will they understand that shouting “Arewa” while stealing the future of Arewa is still betrayal?
The North must stop confusing identity with performance.
A northern politician who fails Northern Nigeria is worse than an outsider who never promised anything.
A Muslim politician who watches Muslims suffer while protecting his own comfort should not be defended because of religion.
A governor who cannot secure his people should not receive applause because he attends the mosque.
A scholar who cannot speak truth to power should not be protected merely because he has followers.
Everyone must be judged by what they do.
Not what they say.
Not where they come from.
Not which language they speak.
Not the cap they wear.
Not the mosque they attend.
Results.
That is all that should matter.
And now there is an even greater danger ahead.
What happens if Tinubu wins again?
What happens if the North once again delivers political support and receives little or nothing meaningful in return?
By then, Northern Nigeria may discover that it has surrendered the little political leverage it still possesses.
Another four years of declining education.
Another four years of insecurity.
Another four years of poverty.
Another four years of young people without competitive skills.
Another four years of political irrelevance disguised by appointments and titles.
At that point, the burial of Northern Nigeria may no longer be metaphorical.
The North may still exist on the map.
There will still be governors.
There will still be emirs.
There will still be senators.
There will still be ministers.
There will still be political rallies.
But economically, educationally and politically, the region could be buried.
Dead, but pretending to be alive.
That is the danger.
And nobody should blame Tinubu alone.
Nobody should blame the South alone.
Nobody should blame outsiders alone.
A people who repeatedly refuse to question their own leaders must accept part of the responsibility for what those leaders become.
Northern Nigeria must decide whether it wants citizens or followers.
Citizens ask questions.
Followers clap.
Citizens demand results.
Followers demand recognition.
Citizens challenge leaders.
Followers worship them.
Citizens think about the next generation.
Followers think about the next handout.
For too long, Arewa has produced followers.
That must change.
Because no region can survive forever on history, population and pride.
Eventually, reality collects its debt.
And that debt is now coming due.
So do not cry for me, Argentina.
Cry for Arewa.
Cry for the children who may never receive the education they deserve.
Cry for the families who live at the mercy of kidnappers.
Cry for the young people whose future is being traded for political loyalty.
Cry for a region rich in people but poor in leadership.
Cry for a people who repeatedly defend those who fail them.
Cry for a North that talks endlessly about pride while accepting humiliation.
But after the crying, there must be anger.
And after the anger, there must be action.
Because if the North does not wake up now, one day it may wake up and discover that there is nothing left to wake up for.
