NSGF Chairman Confirms What We All Knew About Northern Insecurity

Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, who chairs the Northern States Governors' Forum, spoke on Monday at the meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Dutse, Jigawa State. He said 86 million people in Northern Nigeria, 65 percent of the region's population, are living in multidimensional poverty. He also stated that 80 percent of Nigeria's 18.3 million out-of-school children are from the North. His exact words were, "In a country where 60 percent of the population is below the age of 35, a hungry, jobless and illiterate youth population is nothing more than a cheap recruitment pool for bandits and Boko Haram."

This is not news to anyone who has been paying attention. We have known for decades that poverty and lack of education are the fuel for insurgency. The problem is that every time a governor says this, nothing changes. We hold meetings, we issue communiques, we nod our heads, and then we go back to business as usual. Meanwhile, children are out of school, young men are joining bandits because it pays better than farming, and the rest of us live in fear.

Governor Yahaya called for investment in education, agriculture, and skills acquisition. He said military action alone cannot solve this. I agree with him completely. But I want to ask the northern governors directly: what will you do differently this time? We have heard these words before. Be honest, has any northern state government actually returned children to school in large numbers? Or is this just another speech for the cameras?