Northern Governors Sound Alarm: ‘Region Could Collapse Without Urgent Action’

Northern governors have issued a grave warning that the region stands at risk of losing its future to spiralling insecurity and entrenched poverty unless leaders take bold, collective action immediately.

Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, gave the charge on Monday during a joint meeting of the NSGF and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna.

Yahaya said the North is facing “a grim reality of insecurity and poverty that seeks to undermine our very existence,” stressing that the stakes are higher than ever and require unity beyond politics, ethnicity and religion.

The two-day meeting, hosted at the Kaduna State Government House, brought together all 19 northern governors, traditional rulers, security chiefs and civil society actors to design what officials described as an urgent rescue roadmap for a region under siege from banditry, terrorism and social decay.

Governor Yahaya noted that history will not judge today’s leaders by the number of roads or buildings they complete, but by whether they can “deliver to future generations a Northern Nigeria they can truly call home.”

He praised President Bola Tinubu for demonstrating “strong leadership and steadfast commitment to Nigeria’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” especially in ongoing rescue operations for kidnapped schoolchildren.

Yahaya conveyed sympathy to families of abducted pupils in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Kano, Niger and Sokoto states, and to communities recently attacked by Boko Haram in Borno and Yobe. He lamented that repeated assaults on schools – “the bedrock of our children’s future” – amount to a direct attack on the region’s long-term stability.

Describing insecurity as a threat that “spares no one – poor or rich, Muslim or Christian,” Yahaya appealed for an end to political brinkmanship, insisting that the region must speak with one voice to survive.

He warned that insecurity in the North is fuelled not only by violent crime but also by decades of underdevelopment, a broken education system, mismanagement of resources, climate pressures and the neglect of millions of Almajiri and out-of-school children.

Central to discussions was the push for state police. Reaffirming the NSGF’s May 10, 2025 resolution, the governors insisted that state policing remains “critical and effective” in addressing today’s security challenges and urged the National Assembly to speed up constitutional amendments to make it possible.

Traditional rulers were urged to intensify their grassroots stabilising roles, while religious leaders were reminded to preach tolerance and avoid inflammatory rhetoric. Political actors, the Forum warned, must stop weaponising ethnic and religious identities for political advantage.

The Forum also called on security agencies to improve intelligence gathering and rapid response, and urged the judiciary to ensure swifter justice to deter crime.

In their joint communiqué, the governors pledged closer collaboration with the Federal Government under President Tinubu “to reverse the tragic security trajectory and restore lasting peace and stability to the region and the country.”