Northern governors have raised a red flag over the worsening security and socio-economic conditions in the region, warning that without urgent and decisive intervention, the North risks losing its future to violence, instability and mass deprivation.
The alarm was sounded on Monday by Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, at a joint meeting of the Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council held in Kaduna.
Yahaya said the region is today confronted with “a grim reality of insecurity and poverty that seeks to undermine our very existence,” stressing that northern leaders must act collectively or risk watching the region implode.
The high-level meeting, which began at the Kaduna Government House, brought together all 19 northern governors, first-class traditional rulers, security chiefs and civil society leaders for what participants described as a make-or-break moment for the region’s stability.
According to Yahaya, history will not remember this generation of leaders for infrastructure achievements alone, but for whether they can “bequeath to future generations a Northern Nigeria they can truly call home.”
He commended President Bola Tinubu for his “steadfast commitment to Nigeria’s security and territorial integrity,” particularly in ongoing rescue operations for schoolchildren abducted in the region.
The governor also expressed condolences to families of kidnapped pupils in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Kano, Niger and Sokoto states, as well as communities hit by recent Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe. He noted that targeted attacks on schools — “the very foundation of our children’s future” — amount to an assault on the region’s destiny.
Yahaya stressed that insecurity “spares no one — rich or poor, Muslim or Christian,” urging northern political actors to abandon divisive rhetoric and forge a united front to save the region.
He identified underdevelopment, illiteracy, weak governance systems, climate pressures and the neglect of millions of Almajiri and out-of-school children as major drivers of the crisis, warning that tackling insecurity requires confronting these structural roots.
A key issue on the agenda was the renewed call for state police. Reaffirming the Forum’s May 10, 2025 resolution, the governors declared state policing “a critical and effective mechanism” for addressing today’s security threats and urged the National Assembly to expedite the required constitutional amendments.
Traditional rulers were charged to maximise their influence as “stabilising forces” across communities, while religious leaders were urged to promote tolerance and avoid incendiary sermons. The Forum also cautioned politicians against exploiting ethnic or religious sentiments for personal gain.
Security agencies were called upon to strengthen intelligence gathering and respond swiftly to threats, while the judiciary was urged to accelerate the prosecution of criminal cases to deter offenders.
In a joint communiqué, the governors pledged to deepen collaboration with the Federal Government under President Tinubu “to reverse the region’s security decline and secure a peaceful and prosperous future for northern Nigeria and the country at large.”
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