North’ll always stand in the way of national unity – Balarabe Musa

By Charles Kumolu WHILE international and local  reports have repeatedly maintained that Northern Nigeria is the least developed region in the country, Balarabe Musa, a former governor of Kaduna State, in this interview noted that poverty should be seen as national crisis, rather than a northern problem. He also added, that the educational backwardness in the north, would continuously make the region an obstacle to national unity. He spoke to CHARLES KUMOLU. THE problem of insecurity threatening the northern part of Nigeria, is regarded by most people as a fallout of poverty across the 19 northern states, as a former governor of a northern state, what role do you think poverty plays in this crises? The north will always stand in the way of national development and national security, because of the lower level of educational development. That is one aspect that the north is very backward in among other parts of Nigeria. But poverty is everywhere. And the rich and the powerful, who have sufficient money to engage people to participate in organise violence, are not helping the situation. This kind of people, who fuel violence are found in North and South. So for us, we should be discussing the low level of development, which includes poverty, as a national problem and not a northern problem.

Emphasis should be given to instances where it is quite clear that there is a huge poverty gap between the north and the South. Educational development And that case involves the area of educational development, where the North is lacking behind. Those, who are directly linking the crisis to poverty are expressing their opinion. The view of the CBN governor Sanusi on the issue is an elite opinion. The elite would always take their position, but poverty is everywhere in the country. Some have placed this issue of underdevelopment of the northern region on the past and present leaders. What  do you make of this? continued