North: In search of lasting peace

Northern Nigeria, a region blessed with vast arable land and productive population has become shadow of its former self.
The region has turned to theatre of war.
From Borno to Sokoto is a gory story of bloodletting, arson and heaps of refugees.
In fact, the once peaceful and prosperous region has been polarised along ethnic and religious fault lines.
How the region slide into this sorry state remains debatable by both the ruling elites and the poor population.
Of course, digging into the history of northern Nigeria, one will be disturbed on how the hitherto cosmopolitan region is reduced to a tattered or battered clan.
In the early 60s and late 80s, North was synonymous with agriculture and hospitality.
The region is the food basket of the nation.
It enjoyed relative peace among the diverse ethnic population sandwiched together and shared common historical background.
Northern Nigeria is today characterised by poverty, illiteracy, ethnic- religious intolerance, extremism, ethnic militias, rustling, rampaging killer herders and above all crises of great magnitude.
As you are reading this piece, many communities in Taraba and Adamawa states have been sacked by ethnic militias.
In Benue state, it is tussle between farmers and herdsmen.
The people of Zamfara and BirninGwari have been battling with cattle rustlers.
The catalogue of problems is beyond lamentation, it demands expeditious solutions.
The posers are: Why is the peace and harmonious relation among the people of the region shattered? Why has the region become a battle ground where lives are so cheap and being hacked to death on daily basis with impunity? Can we blame our northern leaders for these woes? The multi-facet problems affecting the Northern states are caused by various factors.
These can be seen thus: Political factor: Until the return to democracy in 1999, Northern Nigeria enjoyed uninterrupted peace and sound economy.
Although, there were pockets of violence in some states, the crises were minimal and quickly nipped in the bud courtesy of good leadership.
Today, the intense struggle for political power by desperate politicians has changed the story.
These politicians exploited our ethnic and religious differences to grab power.
They have succeeded in using divide and rule tactics to win elections.
Many politicians recruited and armed political thugs.
After they coasted to victory, they abandon them.
No wonder, most of the criminals arrested for robbery or violence are highly connected to top politicians.
President Buhari recently admitted that, the killings across the country are being sponsored by politicians.
Another is Economy.
The battle of who controls the resources in the region has increased the tension and fuelled ethno-religious crises.
Economic factor is tied to the apron-string of politics.
There is battle of ethnic supremacy among political elite.
Ethnic bigots think by holding the economy of their respective states, they have the opportunity to enrich their people and suppress the others.
This, however, is not the case.
The states’ resources which are supposed to be evenly distributed are cornered by the ruling elite and their cronies.
What we graphically see is the picture of grim poverty and unemployment in the region.
These twin evils have continued to promote violence.
Northern Nigeria can regain its lost glory and overcome the multiple security challenges if our political leaders close ranks and collectively work together.
Our leaders should emulate the leadership style of late Sardauna, Tafawa Balewa and Joseph Tarka of blessed memory.
These leaders led by example.
Equity and justice were their watch words.
They neither promoted ethnic hatred nor corruptly amassed wealth.
The north can also surmount its security challenges if it addresses the problem of poverty and unemployment.
Unless the 19 northern states wage relentless war against poverty and unemployment, the search of lasting solution to insecurity will remain elusive.
Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna state 08169056963