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…Says region totally hopeless, urges weeklong retreat
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), yesterday delivered a scathing assessment of Northern Nigeria’s leadership, declaring that the region was “totally hopeless” and accusing political leaders of lacking vision and commitment.
Speaking at the 3rd General Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference at Arewa House in Kaduna, Al-Mustapha said the country’s deteriorating condition required leaders willing to confront the truth rather than flatter those in power.
“The state of the North is totally hopeless. Speaking the truth to the situation is meant for patriots. People who praise-sing leaders in power, they are deceits, they are threats,” he said.
The retired army major faulted the absence of many Northern governors at the conference, arguing that the event’s theme should have attracted the region’s political leadership.
“This would have made all the governors in the North to be here as early as 8:00 am. They don’t have the thinking, they don’t have the sacrifice, they don’t have the understanding, they also have no strategy for the country. They don’t care about our future. The system is rotten, sincerely,” he said.
Addressing the federal government’s representative at the event, Al-Mustapha added: “Representative of Mr. President, listen, you are a Northerner. Governors that are right here cannot attend. They don’t understand. Those who are in leadership positions don’t even understand what leadership is all about.”
He urged the Northern Elders Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum to convene a week-long retreat to chart a new direction for the region.
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His words: “There is the need to organize a one-week retreat for the North because we are directionless. We care not about ourselves, daily deaths are happening, those in high positions are involved, they are insensitive. They take money outside the country, telling lies about the state of the North and indeed the state of the country. That is hypocrisy.”
Al-Mustapha also challenged prevailing narratives about Lake Chad, claiming the lake remained intact despite desertification and arguing that better research and investment could unlock enormous economic benefits while undermining insurgent financing.
He further called on Nigerians to embrace artificial intelligence as a driver of economic growth, lamenting the country’s limited digital infrastructure.
“The world has moved to AI. I prefer to be given an opportunity in AI than to be given the entire oil in Nigeria,” he said.
He claimed Nigeria had only one AI data centre in Lagos and argued that Northern Nigeria possessed the mineral resources needed to establish more facilities.
“Time has come, you don’t need a government. With a single data centre, you can have all the money to make what you want.”
Al-Mustapha said the poor attendance of Northern leaders at the memorial conference reflected a deeper leadership failure.
“I know there is something wrong with the leadership of the North. Either they don’t acknowledge Hassan, or they don’t know the meaning of founding fathers, or they don’t respect culture, or they don’t respect history, or they don’t respect the future and investing in it, and they’re careless. A carefree person is not a leader—that is a burden.”
