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[OPINION] Northern Amnesia: Governor Sani, The Table Shaker

Published

3 months ago

July 30, 2025

By Israel Adebiyi

“When truth is buried underground, it grows, it chokes, it gathers such explosive force that on the day it bursts out, it blows up everything with it.”
— Émile Zola

There’s a kind of silence that settles over the land after years of failure. A silence made of shame, denial, and carefully chosen half-truths. In Northern Nigeria, that silence has become an institution — polite, predictable, and profoundly dangerous.

Then came Uba Sani — with words that cut through like harmattan wind.

At a recent citizen engagement summit in Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani did what few northern politicians have ever dared. He faced the region and told it the truth: “We failed our people.” Not they. We. All of us who have held power in the North in the past two decades, he said, must offer the people an apology.

In that single moment, he shattered the convenient forgetfulness the North has grown used to. He didn’t call out Abuja. He didn’t drag the South. He didn’t blame some vague colonial past or “outsiders.” He pointed the finger inward — and included himself.

That is no small thing. That is not politics. That is an act of courage.

Because what Governor Sani spoke to is not just political miscalculation. It’s a generational betrayal. A betrayal that has left too many Northern children unschooled, too many women dying in childbirth, too many communities in darkness, and too many homes listening for the next gunshot.

Let’s stop for a moment and look at the evidence — not the emotion, but the math.

According to the 2022 National Multidimensional Poverty Index, nine of the ten poorest states in Nigeria are in the North. In Sokoto, over 90% of people live in poverty. Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa — same story. We’re not just failing; we’ve normalized failure.

And yet, this is the region that has held the most power in Nigeria since independence. Presidents. Military heads of state. Senators. Generals. Governors. Ministers. National Security Advisers. We’ve produced them all. But not the outcomes.

We’ve built palaces in Abuja, but not a working school in Shinkafi. We’ve padded budgets but abandoned hospitals in Birnin Kebbi. In some states, over 60% of children aged 6–15 have never seen the inside of a classroom. What kind of leadership allows this?

Northern mothers still die in delivery rooms at three times the national average, according to the latest NDHS report. Some rural health centres don’t even have paracetamol. The elites fly abroad. The poor bury their dead.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption

Security? Forget it. From Zamfara to Katsina to Niger, bandits have made homes out of forests. Whole villages are ghost towns. And yet, most of the top military chiefs in the last decade came from this region. Who, then, is to blame?

Let’s talk money. The North is land-rich but cash-poor. While Lagos alone contributes over 30% to Nigeria’s GDP, most northern states struggle to hit 1%. But the same northern governors go cap-in-hand for federal allocation and call it development. Where are the industries? Where is the productivity?

This is what Sani is shaking — a region that has grown comfortable with underdevelopment and allergic to self-reflection.

Some elites have pushed back, of course. Former senators and political juggernauts who built their careers on recycled loyalty have tried to downplay his remarks. They say he was too harsh. That he forgot their “service”. That he shouldn’t “wash dirty linen in public.”

But if that linen hasn’t been washed for 40 years, where should it be aired?

Let’s be honest — it is easier to blame Buhari, or Tinubu, or the South. But Sani refuses the easy route. He says: we, the North, are not victims here. We are architects of our own decline.

He refuses to play the amnesia game.

You can feel the discomfort in the air. He has stepped on toes — and many of those toes wear agbadas. But the truth is not about comfort. It’s about course correction.

This isn’t about just Uba Sani. It’s about whether the North still has the capacity to face its reflection. To see the rot — and clean house. To stop building dynasties and start building schools. To stop naming roads after ancestors and start giving roads to rural farmers.

Too many of our children are stuck in almajiri cycles while the children of the elite occupy UK universities. Too many of our mothers die in labor while wives of past governors set up foundations for photo-ops. Too many old names have stayed too long — and are grooming their sons for the throne.

That is what Governor Sani is fighting: not just silence, but the inheritance of silence.

He says, “Let’s apologise.” But apology alone is not enough. It must be backed with a plan. A Marshall Plan for the North — real investment, not campaign slogans. Functional education, not workshops. Security that protects, not retaliates. Jobs that empower, not enslave.

It must come with the rethinking of what power is: not title, not convoy, not prayer photos — but legacy measured in lives changed, not lives lost.

Governor Sani’s voice may be lonely now. But history listens to such voices. And perhaps, just perhaps, in that lone voice, the North might find a new beginning.

Because silence, when it becomes tradition, is nothing but consent.

And now, one man has dared to shout.

News

Ovia South West Council Chairman, Edobor Bags National Merit Award

Published

14 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

The Acting Chairman of Ovia South West Local Government Council in Edo State, Hon. Charles Nosakhare Edobor, has bagged the 2025 Nigerian Local Government Merit Award (LOGMA).

He was awarded as the Best Performing Local Government Chairman in Nigeria (Security and infrastructure development, purposeful leadership).

Speaking after being conferred with the prestigious award, Edobor applauded the organizers for recognizing his administration’s commitment to localizing good governance.

He highlighted his leadership’s remarkable strides in building a sustainable, livable, and prosperous council area through numerous people-oriented programmes and projects-particularly in road infrastructure and the provision of basic social amenities.

Edobor dedicated the award to the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and to the good people of Ovia south west Local Government Area.

He expressed satisfaction with the honour. He emphasized that the award would further spur him to work harder in pursuing people-centred programmes aligned with Senator Monday Okpebholo’s S.H.I.N.E and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Edobor commended Governor Okpebholo for his visionary leadership and unwavering support for local government administrations across the state.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to deepening rural development, empowering youth and women, and ensuring the dividends of democracy reach every ward in Ovia south west local government.

Earlier, in his welcome address at the event which held on Wednesday at the National Merit House, Abuja, the National Coordinator of LOGMA, Chief Bayode Ojo, stated that the award was designed to showcase the achievements of local government chairmen and reward excellence in grassroots governance – particularly those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting grassroots development despite the challenges confronting the third tier of government.

He congratulated all the awardees for making the final list after rigorous scrutiny and spot-checking of some of their executed projects to verify the authenticity of their claims.

Chief Ojo further urged the awardees to continue to be shining examples of sustainable growth at the grassroots and in the country at large.

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Sacks CDS Musa, Names New Army Boss

Published

14 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has made changes in the hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.

The President appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff.

More to follow…

News

Lagos Inaugurates 24-hour Traffic Management Operations

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has launched two transformative initiatives designed to recalibrate traffic governance and restore environmental sanctity across the metropolis.

In a visionary bid to guarantee seamless mobility and safe commuting at all hours, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has formally instituted a 24-hour operational framework for traffic management and enforcement across Lagos State.

The groundbreaking initiative, officially commissioned by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, constitutes a seminal moment in the evolution of Lagos’s transportation governance.

It manifests Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s strategic ambition to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, goods and services within Nigeria’s economic epicentre—a city that operates continuously, unhindered by congestion or disorder.

According to Giwa, the 24-hour operational regime epitomises the administration’s steadfast dedication to constant vigilance, operational efficiency and disciplined traffic regulation, especially as the metropolis approaches the festive period, traditionally characterised by heightened vehicular and commercial activity.

This information was contained in a statement yesterday by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq.

He elaborated that the framework is meticulously designed to facilitate continuous monitoring, rapid emergency response and immediate clearance of traffic obstructions irrespective of time, thereby mitigating congestion and enhancing the commuter experience.

“This initiative exemplifies the Lagos State Government’s resolute commitment to safeguarding mobility, preserving lives and sustaining economic productivity through perpetual traffic oversight,” Giwa stated.

A pivotal component of the initiative is the establishment of the Night Rapid Response Gang, a specialised unit within LASTMA charged with swiftly addressing nocturnal traffic incidents, including vehicular breakdowns, collisions and other obstructions along critical arteries of the metropolis.

In tandem with these traffic management reforms, the Lagos State Government also executed a comprehensive clearance operation along Apapa Road, Costain and the Ijora Under Bridge, eliminating illegal structures, shanties and unregulated trading that had long obstructed free vehicular flow and compromised public safety.

The far-reaching enforcement exercise, spearheaded by Sola Giwa in coordination with LASTMA, the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), the Lagos State Task Force and the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), culminated in the removal of unauthorised traders, makeshift structures and multiple environmental infractions.

During the operation, enforcement teams uncovered an illegal diesel dumping site and impounded substantial quantities of expired plantain chips and cheese balls, stored under unsanitary conditions—a testament to the government’s prioritisation of public health and environmental integrity.

The exercise followed persistent warnings and public sensitisation campaigns urging illegal occupants under bridges to vacate. Teams also identified blocked drainage channels choked with metallic debris, contributing to perennial flooding and environmental degradation.

Furthermore, several commercial buses and tricycles operating unlawfully along the newly constructed Costain Bridge and Apapa Road were impounded.

Shanties adjacent to St. Catholic Church School, Apapa Road, were demolished, reinstating the area to its intended urban and educational purpose, while criminal hideouts beneath the Ijora Bridge were dismantled to enhance public security.

Giwa reaffirmed that the Sanwo-Olu administration will not compromise on public safety, environmental protection or the rule of law, stressing that Lagos must remain a city distinguished by structure, order and discipline.

General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, appealed to traders, transport operators and commuters to comply with government directives, utilise designated markets and parking facilities, and actively support the administration’s efforts to maintain a safe, efficient and orderly metropolis.

He emphasised that the integration of 24-hour traffic management with environmental enforcement represents the Lagos State Government’s holistic approach to sustainable urban mobility—one that blends innovative regulation, proactive enforcement and civic responsibility.