As gunshots echo through northern towns and the cries of displaced children pierce the arid air, one question looms over Nigeria’s political establishment: who truly cares about the people? While President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government and political elites debate subsidy reforms and jet off to international conferences, the North – Nigeria’s largest and most politically influential region – continues to bleed, largely ignored by those in power.
From Sokoto to Borno, Zamfara to Niger, and Kaduna to Plateau, stories of killings, kidnappings, and mass displacements have become tragically routine. Entire communities have been sacked by terrorists and bandits. Farming activities, once the bedrock of the region’s economy, have been decimated. And yet, the nation’s political nerve center in Abuja remains mostly unmoved.
This is not just a humanitarian crisis — it’s a betrayal.
The Bleeding North: A Region Under Siege
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nigeria has lost over 350,000 lives to violence related to terrorism, banditry, and herder-farmer conflict since 2009 — with the vast majority occurring in the northern region. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) estimates that over 3 million Nigerians have been displaced from their homes in the North, many of whom are now living in squalid conditions in IDP camps with limited access to food, water, or education.
In Zamfara and parts of Niger State, terrorists operate as de facto governments — collecting taxes, controlling roads, and even enforcing their own laws. In Borno, while military operations have reduced the strength of Boko Haram, isolated attacks and raids continue to disrupt normalcy. In southern Kaduna, recurring communal clashes have led to hundreds of deaths, and in Benue, mass killings by suspected herders continue to displace entire communities.
Yet, despite these devastating figures and ongoing violence, there’s a stunning lack of urgency from the nation's capital.
Tinubu’s Silence and the Villa’s Apathy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, with a promise of renewed hope. But over a year into his administration, there has been no comprehensive national security summit specifically targeting the humanitarian and security crisis in the North. While security meetings are often held behind closed doors in Aso Rock, they have yet to translate into tangible protection for northern villages under siege.
In January 2024, over 200 people were killed in coordinated attacks across Plateau State, including women and children. Despite the gravity of the incident, President Tinubu neither visited the affected communities nor addressed the nation publicly about the massacre. This silence was interpreted by many as a sign that northern lives are expendable.
By contrast, the President was quick to release statements and send delegations to global economic forums and high-level investment summits in Europe, Asia, and the United States — priorities that, while economically strategic, seemed disconnected from the realities of millions of Nigerians under daily threat of death.
A Political Class Out of Touch
Critics argue that the government’s focus on subsidy removal, forex reform, and infrastructure investments has come at the cost of basic security and humanitarian relief. While Minister of Finance Wale Edun speaks eloquently of macroeconomic reforms and debt sustainability, children in Sokoto, Katsina, and Niger are being denied schooling due to insecurity.
The federal government’s palliative programs, touted as a cushion for subsidy removal, have largely failed to reach the most affected parts of the North. A report by BudgIT Nigeria in early 2025 showed that over 70% of targeted beneficiaries in the Northeast and Northwest had not received any form of government support — whether in cash transfers, food distribution, or agricultural aid.
In many parts of Zamfara and northern Kaduna, communities pay protection levies to bandits just to survive. Farmers are forced to pay taxes to terrorist groups before they can access their own farmlands — a grim reality in a country with a functioning military and a national police force.
The Cost of Neglect: Rising Radicalization and Anti-State Sentiment
Security experts have repeatedly warned that the continued neglect of northern Nigeria risks inflaming tensions and breeding further radicalization. Many young people in the region, unable to find work or receive education, are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Nigerian state. In some areas, locals have more confidence in traditional rulers and vigilante groups than in federal authorities.
Dr. Kabiru Adamu, a security analyst based in Abuja, noted in a recent interview that “the failure of governance in the North is no longer just a security issue — it is a national survival issue. If you alienate millions of your citizens and allow non-state actors to govern them, you are inviting state failure.”
Indeed, the situation has implications far beyond the North. The mass migration of displaced persons is overwhelming neighboring states and contributing to increased pressure on urban infrastructure. Kidnappings and rural banditry are now spreading southward — evidence that the flames of insecurity are not bound by geography.
A Deafening Silence from Elected Leaders
Many of the region’s governors and elected officials, meanwhile, appear powerless or unwilling to challenge the status quo. Some have become content with photo-ops and federal allocations while avoiding any serious engagement with the federal government on long-term solutions. Others, fearing political isolation or reprisal, avoid public criticism of the presidency — even as their constituents suffer.
A senator from the Northwest who requested anonymity expressed frustration with the current state of affairs: “We are watching our region collapse while the President is surrounded by people who do not understand or care about our pain. If this continues, there may be no North left to defend.”
What Needs to Be Done: A Call for National Response
The solution to the North’s crisis is neither simple nor singular. But the first step is recognition — a clear, unequivocal acknowledgment from President Tinubu and the Federal Government that the suffering in the North is a national emergency, not a regional inconvenience.
Nigeria needs a comprehensive Northern Recovery and Stabilization Plan, similar to post-conflict reconstruction models used in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. This plan must include:
- Massive military reorganization and deployment with specialized anti-banditry units;
- Direct economic intervention in affected communities including cash grants, food support, and rebuilding of schools and health centers;
- Engagement with traditional leaders, religious authorities, and local vigilantes to co-develop community defense structures;
- Creation of trauma centers and mental health support for displaced persons and survivors of violence;
- Special youth employment programs to absorb those vulnerable to radicalization;
- Transparent security budget spending and parliamentary oversight.
Only then can Nigeria begin to rebuild trust and restore order in the North.
Conclusion: A Nation Failing Its Own
The bleeding of the North is not just a regional tragedy — it is a national disgrace. For every child abducted in Kaduna, every farmer killed in Zamfara, and every mother forced to flee her home in Borno, the Nigerian state loses its moral authority.
President Tinubu and his administration must rise above politics and optics. They must act not for the applause of foreign investors or the praise of economic think tanks, but for the sake of ordinary Nigerians whose lives are being destroyed daily.
Because if the Villa continues to sleep while the North bleeds, the entire country may soon wake up to a nightmare it can no longer escape.
End of Report
The Situation is So alarming Fed Govt need to wake up Before it get worth
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