From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi, has decried the alarming neglect of Northern Nigeria in federal spending, warning that government officials must be held accountable for decisions that continue to sideline the region.
Speaking during the ongoing Government-Citizens Engagement Forum organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Kaduna on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, the former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University said the region’s education crisis is a national emergency.
“We have 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria—80 per cent of them are from Northern Nigeria,” he said. “If just half of the N15 trillion national budget were allocated to education, we would have no child out of school. That money would provide schools, teachers, and equipment.”
Abdullahi, who said he recently toured parts of the Northeast, described the region’s road infrastructure as “the worst in the country—if any network even exists at all.”
He called on the federal government to allocate the second half of the budget to building critical roads in the North, saying development cannot occur in the absence of connectivity.
“Let’s be serious. If we use N7.5 trillion for education and N7.5 trillion for roads in the North, we’d solve two of our biggest problems,” he stated bluntly.
The elder statesman also raised questions about the recent relocation of Central Bank of Nigeria departments to Lagos, querying the rationale behind what he termed painful and suspicious federal decisions.
“Why the sudden relocation of CBN departments? Why the voluntary retirements? And why were 15 new directors recently employed—with only four from Northern Nigeria?” he queried.
He said NEF would formally raise these concerns with President Bola Tinubu, insisting the pattern of exclusion must stop if the country is serious about unity and equity.
According to him, it is also time to decentralise industrial development, urging the federal government to spread agro-allied industries across Northern Nigeria to accommodate the region’s vast agricultural potential.
“If we truly want to develop Nigeria, then Northern Nigeria must be industrialised in line with its natural strengths—agriculture being one,” he said.
Abdullahi charged citizens to move from silence to action, saying the days of passive complaints must give way to bold demands for fairness and justice.
“We must be proactive. We will be asking questions. And this time, we expect answers,” he declared.
He reaffirmed NEF’s participation throughout the two-day engagement, pledging to hold government representatives accountable on all pressing issues raised.
