Ango Abdullahi reveals reason for North’s leadership crisis

Former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and elder statesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, has blamed the challenges confronting Northern Nigeria on what he described as the steady erosion of the region’s core values and leadership principles.

Speaking on Saturday at the third Late Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference held at Arewa House in Kaduna, Abdullahi said the North’s present condition reflects a departure from the ideals upheld by its founding fathers and early leaders.

The conference, themed “From Sacrifice to Strategy: Rekindling Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina’s Vision for a Prosperous Northern Nigeria,” brought together stakeholders to reflect on leadership and the future of the region.

According to Abdullahi, the North’s difficulties are not the result of inadequate physical infrastructure but of declining moral standards and ineffective leadership.

“The North has lost its values. You may not want to hear this, but that is the case today. If we have not lost the values we inherited from our parents, from our pioneer leaders, the North will not be where it is today,” he said.

He observed that although many Northern towns and cities have witnessed physical growth, the virtues of honesty, discipline, sacrifice and selfless service that once distinguished the region have continued to diminish.

“The North is in a pathetic situation. For me, that is the only reason why the North has stagnated. Don’t worry about the buildings you see. The basic issue concerning where the North finds itself today is the loss of our values,” he said.

The elder statesman called on political and community leaders to embrace the qualities exemplified by the late Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina, whom he described as a model of integrity, accountability and dedicated service.

“If we can go back to those values, particularly by remembering those who inherited them and practised them, there is no doubt in my mind that the North would have been different today,” he added.

In his keynote address, Dr. Bugaje painted a grim picture of the region’s current realities, attributing years of economic decline, insecurity and institutional collapse to a departure from the leadership ideals demonstrated by figures such as the late Gen. Hassan Katsina.

“The troubles of the North are many and varied. Food production is going down daily, hundreds of thousands are being displaced from their homes, the economy has been shrinking, poverty has nearly tripled, education and healthcare have collapsed, and our human capital has been depleted,” he said.

He maintained that persistent insecurity has continued to weaken farming, trade and social activities across Northern Nigeria.

“It is indeed time to ask how much of the North still remains. Or better still, how much of the sanity of the elite, especially those in government, still remains? Today, who is there to go to? Where are the General Hassans to complain to? Where exactly is the leadership? Where is the direction?” he asked.

Bugaje also criticised what he described as the passive attitude of some members of the Northern elite, saying many have limited themselves to lamenting the region’s problems without pursuing meaningful solutions.

“It has become the pastime of the elite to sit in the comfort of their homes and say that the North is in trouble. Some even scream that the North is finished. These comments only betray the complacency or even the complicity of the northern elite,” he said.

Reflecting on a personal encounter with the late Gen. Hassan Katsina, Bugaje recounted how the former military governor stood by him after the then American ambassador protested an article he had written against Western imperialism.

“The American ambassador came all the way to Kaduna to complain about the article. General Hassan read it himself and called me. Instead of asking me to stop, he told me to write more of such articles. That was the kind of leader they were. When they knew what was being done was right, they encouraged it,” he said.

Bugaje said leaders of Hassan Katsina’s era successfully blended modern education with the traditional Northern virtues of discipline, justice, modesty and commitment to public service.

“General Hassan’s generation had an infusion of a high dose of our value system. We saw it in their contentment, commitment to their communities, respect for rules and procedures, modesty and decorum, and their vision of a prosperous North where every Northerner became his brother’s keeper,” he said.

He urged today’s leaders to revive those values as part of efforts to tackle the region’s social, economic and security challenges.

The annual memorial conference honours the legacy of the late Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina while providing a platform for discussions on leadership, governance and the future of Northern Nigeria.