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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, has called on political leaders and stakeholders in the northern part of the country to confront the development and leadership challenges of the region head-on.
He cautioned that failure of the leaders to address the socioeconomic and insecurity challenges could lead to north missing history again.
Showunmi made this call in an open letter titled “A LETTER TO THIS GENERATION OF AREWA”, addressed to leaders, elders, intellectuals, traditional institutions and youths of the North, and which was made available to newsmen in Abeokuta at the weekend.
According to Showunmi, silence in the face of the current condition of the North has become a burden on the conscience and a betrayal of the people.
He lamented that Northern Nigeria, a region blessed with intelligence, history, culture and resources, is now defined by painful statistics of out-of-school children, farmers afraid to return to farms, mothers struggling to feed their children and young people vulnerable to violence due to lack of opportunity.
Showunmi questioned what founding fathers like Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa would say if they saw the present North, recalling the transformative development vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the unfulfilled national hope that Chief MKO Abiola represented, noting that Nigeria is now at another consequential moment under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He argued that Tinubu’s economic reforms, though harsh on vulnerable households, must be judged by evidence and outcomes, and challenged the North not to stand outside every difficult national conversation out of political antagonism, warning that regional identity should not be used to shield leaders from scrutiny.
According to him, leadership must be measured not by offices occupied or crowds commanded, but by functioning schools, accessible hospitals, safer communities, jobs created and whether a child born into poverty has a realistic chance to escape it.
In a direct appeal to young people, Showunmi told the Arewa youth that they are not just the future but the present of the North, urging them to demand for quality education, productive jobs, accountable governance and to refuse to inherit the excuses of the past.
He said he imagined a different North where every child has access to quality education, farmers process their produce locally, businesses thrive with reliable energy, healthcare is accessible, and political leaders compete on who has improved lives rather than who occupies the next office.
Showunmi concluded by asking what the present generation will tell its children, when they ask what was done in this moment, declaring that history is asking Arewa a question and its children are waiting for the answer, and that the time has come to choose transformation over political rivalry.
