Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be blamed for the North’s backwardness.
The region’s woes, the activist-turned politician insisted, were created by its own past leaders who squandered their time in power.
Sani said despite the North’s dominance in Nigeria’s leadership over the years, its people have remained trapped in poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment.
He spoke yesterday when members of the Tijjaniyya Grassroots Mobilisation and Empowerment Initiative of Nigeria (TIGMEIN) visited him at his Kaduna residence.
The former senator cited past administrations of leaders from the North, noting “but the North remained backward and impoverished. Industries like KTL, UNTL, Nortex, Arewa Textiles and others were abandoned. Our leaders lacked vision and pursued development only for their families.”
He lamented that many northerners had believed electing “one of their own” would transform the region, but instead, they were left with dashed hopes, worsening insecurity, mass poverty, joblessness and dilapidated infrastructure.
Sani stressed that it was both unfair and deceitful to blame Tinubu, who has only been in office for two years, for challenges rooted in decades of misgovernance.
“The North’s problems didn’t start with Tinubu. They are the results of selfish power struggles, looted resources, and abandoned responsibilities by past leaders. These leaders had every chance to fix education, healthcare, and security – but they failed,” he said.
He accused some Northern leaders of enriching themselves while neglecting the region, saying, “Some even stopped attending Arewa meetings. They failed to represent the region’s true interest in national development.”
The former lawmaker listed abandoned and uncompleted projects such as the Kaduna–Abuja Road, Minna–Abuja Road, Lokoja–Abuja Expressway, Ajaokuta Steel Company and the Mambilla Power Project as evidence of leadership failure.
“Today, they want to deceive you that Tinubu is your problem. But ask yourself did these bad hospitals, failed roads, insecurity, and poverty start just 24 months ago?” he asked.
Sani warned against returning failed leaders to power, saying, “no matter how bad things may seem now, know that these your brothers from the North failed you. If they return to power, nothing will change.”
