Insecurity spares no one: Northern Govs seek united front to save region

Northern governors have raised a sobering alarm that the region is edging dangerously close to losing its future to unrelenting insecurity and deepening poverty, warning that the North is now at an existential crossroads.

This grim assessment came from the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, during a joint session between the Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna. The two-day meeting, held at the Kaduna Government House, brought together 19 governors, first-class traditional rulers, security chiefs and civil society leaders in what insiders described as a desperate attempt to halt the region’s steady slide into chaos.

Governor Yahaya did not mince words. He declared that the North is today confronted with “the grim reality of insecurity and poverty that seeks to undermine our very existence.” He warned that history will not judge leaders by the number of roads or edifices they commission, but by whether they can “bequeath to future generations a Northern Nigeria they can truly call home.”

He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he called “strong leadership and steadfast commitment to Nigeria’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” particularly in the rescue missions involving abducted schoolchildren. Condolences were also extended to families whose children were recently kidnapped in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Kano, Niger and Sokoto States, as well as victims of renewed Boko Haram violence in Borno and Yobe.

Yahaya lamented that attacks on schools — the very foundation of the region’s future — represent a direct assault on the North’s destiny. He stressed that insecurity knows no boundaries, adding: “It spares no one — poor or rich, Muslim or Christian.”

The governors called for the abandonment of divisive rhetoric and political brinkmanship, insisting that the current crisis is not only a security problem but also a product of chronic underdevelopment, illiteracy, poor resource management, climate change and the abandonment of millions of Almajiri and out-of-school children.

A major highlight of the meeting was the renewed push for state police. Reaffirming the May 10, 2025 communique of the forum, the governors declared state policing “a critical and effective mechanism” for tackling today’s multi-layered security threats. They urged the National Assembly to expedite relevant constitutional amendments.

Traditional rulers were charged to deploy their moral authority as stabilizers of the society, while religious leaders were cautioned to preach tolerance instead of inflammatory messages. Political actors were warned to desist from weaponising ethnicity or religion for electoral advantage.

Security agencies were encouraged to sustain proactive intelligence gathering, and the judiciary was urged to ensure swift dispensation of justice.

In a joint declaration, the governors pledged to deepen cooperation with the Federal Government under President Tinubu to “turn the tide and ensure lasting peace and stability for our region and the nation at large.”