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It is an
extraordinary development that today, the North, or its so-called
leaders are the ones insisting that it is the turn of the region to
produce the president. The question is, which North? North as a viable,
coherent geo-political entity, or one where a few individuals usurp
power and resources to the exclusion of the majority who wallow in
poverty and illiteracy?

In 1955, the
Western Region introduced free education. Today, the products of that
policy and their offspring dominate education, the civil service,
business, financial services, medicine, law and a host of other
professions in Nigeria and beyond. Today, which of the region’s 19
states has a free education policy?

Today, a single
state in the South has more school enrolments than an entire
geo-political zone in the North. A primary school in Kaduna State
(Rafin-Pa) has 300 pupils who share two classes. A chalk line on the
floor serves as demarcation for the different classes. It has two
teachers, including the headmaster.

There are more
private universities in a state in the South than all federal, state
and private universities in a Northern zone. There is only one state
owned university of science and technology in the entire North. A
single university in the South graduates more students than several in
the North.

These examples from the education sector are symbolic of the problems with the North.

Fifty years ago,
the region was battling to catch up with the rest of the country.
Today, the gap is wider than ever. All economic indicators point to the
North as the poorest region in Nigeria.

Healthcare is not
any better. Most states in the South have more doctors than any zone in
the North. Recently, a volunteer group organised a medical caravan to
assist a small village with basic medical services, only to be
confronted with many patients requiring surgery and other more serious
medical attention from surrounding settlements. Government healthcare
has never reached the majority of people, so they die from preventable,
treatable diseases that should have been long eradicated.

Cholera, dysentery,
meningitis, polio and other preventable diseases are prevalent in the
region, which has stalled the elimination of polio from Africa. Bill
Gates had to spend $750 million to fight diseases in our backyards. Our
zoning champions would rather keep their dollars in Switzerland, Dubai,
Hong Kong and South Africa.

Agriculture, the
region’s great area of comparative advantage and mainstay of its
economy remains subsistence and dependent on the vagaries of weather.
This is in spite of the many dams and huge tracts of fertile land the
region possesses. The Sahara desert is inching downwards every year.
Entire settlements have been engulfed. Water sources are drying up
rapidly; deforestation is exposing millions of people to the elements
and making the region vulnerable to drought, flooding and other
environmental catastrophes.

Similarly, overuse
has reduced the fertility and productivity of many farmlands. Rapid
population expansion further puts pressure on existing resources, while
our armies of unemployed youth troop to towns and cities in search of
non-existing opportunities. Our zoning crusaders would rather compete
about who lives in a more expensive part of London, the French Riviera
or Dubai.

Of course, many
Northerners have worked and succeeded in many fields, but most of those
fighting for zoning are people who have served in one public position
or another and used their positions to divert public funds for personal
use.

Corruption is
central to the region’s poverty and maladministration. The stolen funds
are used to buy homes in Europe, America and the Middle East.

This state of mind
is not a prerogative of the Hausa/ Fulani/ Muslim elite. It cuts across
all ethnic groups and religions in the North. The thought process is
same: grab as much money as possible; open foreign bank accounts; buy
estates in Europe and America, with a stopover in Dubai. And never
forget to visit Mecca or Jerusalem every year to feign religiosity.

Zoning is an issue
the elite use to preserve their interests. Regardless of who is in
power, the majority of Northerners (regardless of ethnicity or
religion) have nothing to show. Our leaders systematically narrow the
economic and political space to the exclusion of the majority, while
illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and ethno-religious
crises continue to tear the North apart.

On one hand, I wish the South presented a more inspired choice as
candidate for president. On the other, when the likes of Babangida,
Atiku and Gusau insist that the presidency is zoned to the North, you
wonder, which North? Either way, I do not see the president Nigeria
needs from this motley group.