The Northern part of Nigeria is loosing its bearings fast. The dreams of Sardauna have disappeared. He had a vision that was 100 years ahead of his time. As time passes by since his death his brilliance and foresight become more apparent. This is because current Northerners have yet to begin to walk his path.

 

Sardauna trained Northerners and motivated them to become technocrats and professionals. During his time Northerners worked hard and valued regional growth rather than personal gratification. They felt proud of their origins and under his guidance they went about developing structures that would form a nucleus of a rapidly developing North. He gave young men positions of power and taught them that passion for development could substitute for experience that was lacking in the Northern administration. Ahmadu Bello University, NNDC, Bank of the North are just a few examples of his efforts. It is truly a testament of his greatness that so much was achieved by largely inexperienced people.

 

I never met Sardauna personally for he passed before my time. I have heard enough stories and read enough books about him to know him. He was a selfless man who lived off his meager salary and he was very forthright. It is truly amazing that his lessons have long since disappeared. For if there was no Sardauna there would have been no development in the North at all. The North has not done a good job of carrying his torch. Everybody has Sardauna stories but nobody wants to live in his shoes. For his shoes carried a very large heart that we are yet to grow.

 

At present time the Northerners with opportunity have developed personality cults of power and wealth. Excessive individualism has prevented them from working together to develop their region.They develop their personal estates at the expense of the region. The North now has many small fiefdoms of greed and corruption in a sea of decay. This is not a pretty sight. Those with the desire to make change have to compromise their principles so they can benefit from the largesse of petrol to pay their bills. Now that the Delta is boiling the North is potentially crippled for we have no economic activity other than petroleum handouts from the center. All the structures developed by the Sardauna to stimulate the development of the North have basically disintegrated due to lack of vision. The North currently does not even have a Regional Bank. It is a troubling that a region of 60 million people does not have a bank to represents its interests.

 

I would like to make it clear at this point that Nigeria as a united country comes first. I do not advocate tribalism, nepotism or sectionalism. These are very negative things that can only divide a country. However, there is a place in every country for states and regions with common interests and geographical continuity to pull their resources together for development. Even in advanced democracies like the US states in the Midwest, Southwest, and East coast come together for purposes of developing their economies. It seems today that when such meetings occur in the Northern Nigeria, the main issue is usually political. The goal is to make sure that the North is relevant in the country’s power structure. The relevance of this issue is interesting because the North has continued to decline despite the political power held by Northerners since independence.

 

Northern Nigeria has always lagged behind in western style education that is relevant in today’s world. The only way that the North can develop is for Northerners to look beyond selfish interests and join its great minds together for purposes of growth. The other regions of Nigeria that were more advanced educationally at time of independence today have developed their banking and finance structures. The North would do well to learn from them as to how they developed these structures even when they did not wield presidential power. The North has enough wealth and manpower to develop into a World class economy. We are blessed with a simple common language and a culture that does not split us into small clan groups. We are more unified as a people than most but for reasons best known to us we have been unable to use this great asset for growth.

 

What we need today is for Northerners to start a non political dialogue with a view to developing the North. There should be a groups that can give advice on rationalizing the resources that we have. We have to stop duplicating structures in the various Northern states that only serve to dilute our limited Human Capital. Advice should be obtained from professionals in other parts of the country where significant strides have been achieved. A poorly developed Northern Nigeria is not good for Nigeria.

 

As we strive to recapture Sardauna's essence, there has to be a meeting of minds that is selfless. The creation of states has only further served to stagnate Northern development for there is really no difference in the aspirations of a man from Sokoto versus one from Bauchi. We should take an honest assessment of the situation. There should be no place for blame or name calling. The goal should be progress. Every single Northerner with ability should take responsibility for our current state of affairs. We cannot blame the leaders for they are a reflection of us. The time is ripe to forget and rebuild.There should be no competition with other parts of the country. Rather, the goal should be mutual coexistence and sharing of developmental resources. If National development is the goal, we cannot fail.