If Ever There Was a Time to Unite, It Is Now — Atiku

Former Vice President says North risks repeating Congo’s mistakes if division, poor planning and insecurity persist.

By Abdullahi Yusuf

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Friday delivered a charged and reflective address at the 25th Anniversary Dinner and Awards Night of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kaduna, where he called for renewed commitment to Northern unity, purposeful leadership, and a return to the foundational development agenda laid by Sir Ahmadu Bello.

Speaking as Chairman of the Occasion, Atiku said the milestone provided an opportunity not only for celebration but for sober reflection on the North’s political evolution, institutional decline, and urgent social and economic needs.

He praised the ACF for sustaining its relevance over the past quarter-century despite what he described as “the vagaries of time and the complexities of the post-Ahmadu Bello Northern society.” He also recalled his role in unifying disparate Northern political blocs shortly after the return to democracy in 1999, culminating in the formation of the ACF under the leadership of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.

Atiku used the platform to revisit the principles of the Northern Development Programme (NDP)initiated during his years in government, noting that the trio of education, agriculture and industry, first articulated by Sir Ahmadu Bello, remains the region’s most vital development priorities. He lamented that despite several interventions, many of the structural challenges identified two decades ago “remain unresolved.”

The former Vice President warned that the North’s ability to manage its internal diversity, ethnic, religious, and cultural will determine whether the region can compete in a fast-changing world shaped by population growth, economic pressures, and technological disruption.

Calling for visionary leadership, he said the North must embrace education as a survival strategy, noting that Nigeria’s projected population of 400 million by 2050 poses existential questions for food security, job creation, and basic welfare.

He urged Northern political, traditional, and religious leaders to choose the legacy they want history to record: “leaders who sacrificed for the people, or leaders who pursued only personal gain.”

FULL SPEECH: H.E. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at the ACF 25th Anniversary

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

There are too many dignitaries at this event, so I will shorten the protocol by addressing: Your Excellencies, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

Let me begin by congratulating the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for shouldering the mantle of leadership through the thick and thin of the last 25 years. It has not been easy, and it could not have been easy. The vagaries of time, the complexities of human affairs, and the intricacies of the post-Ahmadu Bello Northern society have presented enormous challenges. That the ACF has kept its head above water and remained a key player in Northern affairs is no small feat. I salute the courage and resilience of its leadership, many of whom have passed on. May their souls rest in peace, and may God shower His mercies on them. Amen.

As we mark this anniversary, let us reflect on the past to plan for the future. Anniversaries are not only for celebrating achievements; they are also moments for review and reflection on an organization’s objectives and vision. This occasion should therefore prompt us to revisit the formation of this premier Northern platform and evaluate its impact.

As some of you will recall, when we came into government after the 1999 general elections, we met a divided North. Numerous platforms existed at the time—prominently the Turaki group around the late President Shehu Shagari, another around the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, one around the late Abdurrahman Okene, and the Middle Belt Forum. Our first task was to unite the North.

To start this process, I consulted widely and set up a team of senior citizens led by the Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, to travel across the North and invite these various groups to come together under one platform. It was not an easy task, but I am glad we succeeded in merging these forces into one united platform under the chairmanship of General Yakubu Gowon and the executive chairmanship of the late M.D. Yusuf.

Subsequently, other great Northerners, such as Chief Sunday Awoniyi, chaired the executive board of the ACF. Much of the evolution of the Forum may already have been documented, and since many of the key actors are here with us, I will leave them to educate us on the ACF’s journey over the last 25 years.

For my part, I wish to turn to an issue that has remained central to our existence and progress—Northern unity. Before delving deeper, let me briefly provide context on the formation of the ACF so that its purpose can be seen in proper perspective.

The ACF was created not only to unite the North but to use that unity to propel development. After addressing the issue of unity, we sought to align with the pristine Northern agenda of the 1960s led by Sir Ahmadu Bello and his team. In his 1961 address to the Northern House of Chiefs and House of Assembly in Kaduna, the Premier outlined the tasks ahead: harnessing resources, improving livestock, increasing crop yields, conserving soil fertility, expanding water access, and ensuring peace and stability as foundations for educational, agricultural, and industrial growth.

Three clear priorities emerged from this vision: education, agriculture, and industry. By 1999, these priorities had not changed; they had only gained new significance. Consequently, we focused on these three fronts through the Northern Development Program (NDP).

We established a Northern Educational Project under the chairmanship of Professor Adamu Baikie, supported by educationists like Mr. Tom Mataimaki and facilitated by Dr. Hamid Bobboyi of Arewa House. The team assessed the state of education across the North and found it in disarray. We initiated programs to revive the sector, including rewriting educational and inspection manuals and conducting capacity-building sessions for teachers and educators. We also sought to restore the dignity of the teaching profession through motivation awards, such as long-service recognitions.

By the end of our first term, many states had doubled school enrollments and improved transition rates. Records of these efforts should be available in Arewa House, which I hope is developing a digital storage facility for its historical archives.

The NDP in Abuja focused strongly on agriculture, bringing together experts to reformulate policy, improve yields, strengthen value chains, and address climate-related challenges. We also turned our attention to industry. Surveys of Northern industries revealed major obstacles: energy shortages, poverty, lack of finance, raw material challenges, and multiple taxation. Sadly, two decades later, many of these issues remain unresolved. Despite negotiations with NEPA to secure better electricity for industries and boost job creation, progress was minimal. The records of these engagements also remain with Arewa House.

I recount these efforts not to lament but to remind us of the need to build on past initiatives in our ongoing quest to develop the North. We cannot afford stagnation. We must unlock our potentials with renewed vigor for the sake of our prosperity.

Now, to the core issue: our unity. The old adage remains true—united we stand, divided we fall. Our major challenge has been the failure to manage our diversity. The North is not the most diverse region in the world. China has 56 ethnic groups; India, the most diverse nation globally, has more than 2,500. Yet these countries have managed their diversities and recorded significant development. We should learn from them.

Our early Northern leadership recognized our diversity. In a 1960 speech in Los Angeles, Sir Ahmadu Bello acknowledged that Northern Nigeria, though large and full of diversity, would find strength in that diversity. Sixty-five years later, we must think about how to make our diversity work for development.

We need leadership with the capacity to accommodate various ethnic and religious groups—leadership that makes everyone feel safe and ensures fairness in distributing natural resources and opportunities. We must also recognize the sophisticated efforts of adversaries who seek to divide us through misinformation, fear, and technology. Their target is our God-given wealth. We have seen examples such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we must not relent.

Sir Ahmadu Bello once warned that if we remain united, there is nothing the region cannot achieve. But those who seek to break our unity do so by setting tribe against tribe, Christian against Muslim, and people against their leaders. That warning remains relevant today.

As I begin to conclude, I want to raise another important issue—the future of the North and its people. What kind of future do we wish to leave behind? In a world where knowledge is the greatest capital, how can the North survive without quality and purposeful education?

By UN projections, Nigeria’s population will reach 300 million by 2030 and over 400 million by 2050, making it the third most populated country after India and China. How will we feed, educate, and provide healthcare and jobs for this massive population when we already struggle with grain deficits and youth unemployment?

These are the critical questions facing every community today. We must confront them or suffer the consequences. The competitive environment of the 21st century will not accept complacency, absentee leadership, or leadership without vision or direction.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we must brace up. Time is not on our side.

In closing, I appeal to our sense of responsibility as Northern leaders to reconsider our priorities and rise to the challenges facing our region. We have seen how the North remembers true leaders like Sir Ahmadu Bello—long gone yet remembered every day. We must ask ourselves: How would we like to be remembered— as leaders who sacrificed for the people, or as those who seized opportunities only for personal gain?

If ever there was a time for the North to unite, it is now. Today, not tomorrow. We must resist those who try to divide us along ethnic and religious lines. We must rise above our differences, confront the challenges ahead, and come together as the one people we have always been.

May God guide us as we strive to fulfill our responsibilities. I thank you all for listening, and I thank the leadership of the ACF organization.