Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has said the root cause of Northern Nigeria’s under-development has nothing to do with President Bola Tinubu, but with past Northern leaders who failed to use their time in power to transform the region.
Speaking when members of the Tijjaniyya Grassroots Mobilisation and Empowerment Initiative of Nigeria (TIGMEIN) paid him a courtesy visit at his Kaduna residence yesterday, Sani stated that the North gained little during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, despite widespread expectations.
His words: “We had Buhari in power for eight years, but the North remained backwards and impoverished. Industries like KTL, UNTL, Nortex, Arewa Textiles, and others were abandoned. Our leaders lacked vision and pursued development only for their families.”
The former lawmaker lamented the dashed hopes of many northerners, who believed that electing “one of their own” in 2015 would bring significant improvements. Instead, he said, “the region continued to suffer from poverty, insecurity, unemployment, and decaying infrastructure.”
According to Sani, it is both deceptive and unjust to blame President Tinubu, who has only been in office for two years, “for problems that were long in the making.”
He accused some of the past Northern leaders of looting public resources, abandoning critical projects, and neglecting to represent the true interests of the region in national development efforts.
BUT the Federal Government has provided explanations to counter proponents of infrastructure marginalisation against the North, saying it has created over 152,000 jobs, 6112 homes under construction and upgraded over 150 slums estimated at N61 billion since the assumption of office in 2023.
In a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Badamasi Haiba, in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, said the ongoing achievements are far-reaching and embedded in the Renewed Hope Housing Programme across Northern Nigeria to rebuild communities, create jobs, and restore dignity.
According to the statement, the minister made the presentation at a two-day interactive session organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation at Arewa House, Kaduna, where he unveiled the ministry’s interventions as not just about physical infrastructure, but about economic empowerment and social renewal.
The statement read in parts: “We are not just building houses, we are rebuilding lives, restoring dignity, and laying the foundation for a more secure and prosperous North.”
Dangiwa noted: “In achieving the landmark of Housing Projects Across the Region under the Renewed Hope Housing, the ministry deployed a three-tier strategy that is already reshaping Northern Nigeria’s housing landscape.”
