North West Dev Commission and Other Issues: Who will save the region?, by Prof. MK Othman
Deep Thought with Othman
Northwestern Nigeria, the veritable location of Katsina—Kano—Kaduna, aka KKK, the brain and heartbeat of Nigeria’s politics, is in disarray. It is at a ferocious war with itself and external forces and direly needs salvation. The twin forces of insecurity and nepotism are massively churning out poverty, unemployment, healthcare deterioration, and hopelessness at an exponential rate.
Politically, the Region is an irresistible and attractive bride to politicians as the Region’s action has been decisive in crowning the presidential candidate into Aso Rock. In the last four but one presidential election, the KKK alone donated more than 10% of the total votes in the country to a single party. In 2011, the KKK gave a bloc of over 4 million votes to the CPC out of about 34 million total votes cast in the country. Similarly, in the 2015 and 2019 elections, KKK provided bloc votes of 4.3 and 3.6 million out of over 30 million total votes. In the 2023 presidential election, Kano state had the highest number of votes, with 1.74 million votes cast. Kaduna followed this, where 1.4 million people voted and 1.09 million in Katsina. The Northwest had 26.5 percent of the total votes in the presidential election, the country’s highest proportion of votes. In terms of volume, the Northwest had the highest number of votes, with about 6.6 million votes, followed by the North-central with more than 4.5 million votes. Of the 6.6 million total votes in the Northwest, Mr Tinubu got 2.65 million, placing him ahead of his closest contestants. This also means that the APC candidate got slightly above 40 percent of the votes in the Northwest, beating all other presidential contestants. With the Region’s splendid role in midwifing government at the center over the years, the cutthroat perennial challenges of insecurity and poverty should have been made to nosedive toward a thorough eradication.
Banditry and mass abduction are the catastrophic security challenges that bedevil the people in the North West region. The number of mass abduction incidents and victims has steadily increased since 2019. Nationwide, in 2024, the number of people abducted is estimated at 7,400 people. According to a study conducted by SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence, at least 1,056 Nigerians were killed in kidnap-related cases while their abductors demanded N10.9 billion between July 2023 and June 2024. Out of this figure, the North West region has been hit the worst by far, with nearly two-thirds the number of victims compared to the other regions combined https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/violent-criminal-gangs-displace-and-disrupt-north-west-nigeria.
READ ALSO: Northern Governors meet in search of solutions to region’s problems
To bring respite to the Region, some concerned people suggested establishing the North West Development Commission to intervene in many areas of the economy, as is happening in other regions with similar developmental challenges.
Senator Barau Jibrin, representing Kano North senatorial zone, sponsored the bill to establish the Commission, which was first read in the red chamber in Nov 2019, and the second reading was in 2020 until it became an Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 24th July 2024. The Commission was established to rebuild the north and address the infrastructural deficit, desertification, deforestation, and seasonal flooding. Similarly, the Commission aims to restore educational infrastructure and access to quality education while creating safe environments. These challenges worsen the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of communities, making them more susceptible to displacement and economic hardship.
Two months after signing the law, President Tinubu nominated Haruna Ginsau (Jigawa) as Chairman and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji (Kano) as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. Other members include Dr. Yahaya Namahe (Sokoto), Aminu Suleiman (Kebbi), Tijani Kaura (Zamfara), Abdulkadir Usman (Kaduna), Muhammad Wudil (Kano), Shamsu Sule (Katsina), and Nasidi Ali (Jigawa). The nominated board members were expected to contribute their wealth of experience and expertise to the Commission’s mandate of developing the North West region. The nominees were credible and trustworthy, and people with diverse expertise and knowledge could be trusted with the arduous task. As the nomination raised people’s hopes for better days ahead and nominees were to be inaugurated, the National Assembly raised observations surrounding the appointment of the Chairman, Managing Director of the Commission, and representatives of other geo-political regions. Within a twinkle of an eye, the Senate passed the amended bill.
During the debate on the Amendment, the leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), “For effective representation, and in line with the principles of federal character, membership of the commission must be extended to other geo-political zones of the country which would be in tandem with extant Acts, relating to the establishment of federal commissions.”
Ordinarily, the amendments should not raise eyebrows, but they removed a clause stating, “The office of the Chairman shall rotate amongst the member states of the commission in alphabetical order.” This clause indicated that Jigawa state was to produce the pioneer Chairman, and each state would have its turn over time. Removing the clause jettisons rotational Chairmanship, which can pave the way for nepotism at the expense of fairness, equity, and justice. Addressing the fear of the chairman and MD coming from the same state can be done by simply inserting that “the Commission Chairman and MD must not come from the same state.”
Already, the Northern Youth Ambassador for Peace and Development Initiative (NYAPDI) has petitioned President Tinubu to maintain the list of his nominees and allow Jigawa state to produce the pioneer Chairman of the Commission in the interest of justice. Nepotism has been the bane of development in the Northwest and has retrogressively pulled down the Region. Why should the Region continue to consider other factors besides merit in important representation and appointments? Why can’t the region learn from the Southwest region that it chooses its best for appointment/election into a high position of responsibility and service? People can get any appointment in any Southwest state, irrespective of origin, for as long as they merit it. Lai Mohammed from Kwara state served in the Tinubu cabinet in Lagos. Mr. Falake, a Yoruba man from Kogi state, was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Lagos member. In the Northwest, the people keep witch-hunting each other because of differences in states of origin and other mundane reasons.
Going by their antecedents, the regional development commissions merely serve as drainpipes for public funds and create job opportunities for the relatives, friends, and associates of elected politicians. The commissions are a haven of aggrandizement that embed the three components of the fraud triangle: opportunity, rationalization, and pressure, as exemplified by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was allocated over N7 trillion since its inception in 2000 without justification for the colossal expenditure.
The first nomination of Amb. Haruna Ginsau, to lead the Commission, raised hope because of his incorruptible character after meritorious service in Nigerian Foreign Affairs from 1982 till he retired in 2017. However, Ginsau’s nomination was invalidated by the Bill amendment, allowing the Chairmanship to come from any of the northwest states. Already, President Tinubu has sent Alhaji Lawal Samaila Abdullahi’s name to the Senate for confirmation as the new pioneer chairman of the Commission. Will the new nominees work hard to address the challenges of the Northwest Region? Time will tell.
Meanwhile, the North West needs to reexamine itself in the mirror and change the narrative; otherwise, the Region will continue to lag in all aspects of socioeconomic development. Who will save the Northwest region?
Professor Mk Othman was a two term Executive Director of the National Agricultural Extension Liaison and Research Services, NAERLS, and is currently a Senior lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria.
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