Marginalization Of The North: Afenifere Lampoons Kwankwaso ..Says Allegation, A Deliberate Incendiary

By Bukar BOLORI

Afenifere, Yoruba sociopolitical organisation has lampooned Former Kano State Governor and Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) at the last election Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso over his recent outburst, alleging that President Bola Tinubu’sadministration is marginalising the North and concentrating national resources in the South.

The group in a statement signed by its National Organising Secretary, Otunba Kole Omololu said the allegation is notonly grossly misleading but also deliberately incendiary.

Omololu, in the statement, said Kwankwaso as a former governor and minister is expected to speak with facts, not emotions laced with sectional bias.

He said: “It must be stated unequivocally that no region in Nigeria has benefited more from concentrated federal presence in the past decade than the North. During the Buhari administration—a northernpresidency, which Senator Kwankwaso conveniently omits—critical national resources were disproportionately channelled to the North. The World Bank Managing Director publicly disclosedthat President Buhari specifically directed the institution to focus its interventions in northern Nigeria.”

He asked: “Where was Kwankwaso’s voice for equity and fairness then?

“Road and rail infrastructure were overwhelmingly skewed. The Kano-Maradi railway, constructed deep into Niger Republic with no economic significance to Nigeria, was completed under Buhari. Wasthis done for national integration or to aid cross-border movement of Fulani kinsmen?

“Meanwhile, under the same regime, the hell on which the senator travelled was not made heaven, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, started by President Jonathan and designed to reach Iwo Junction, remained uncompleted. The Second Niger Bridge was still pending upon Buhari’s exit after eight years in office.

“Less than two years into President Tinubu’s administration, Kwankwaso is crying foul. Perhaps he is unaware that critical road projects have been initiated and awarded across the North, including the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega Road, and the Abuja-Keffi-Lafia corridor. The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, neglected by past regimes, is being fast-tracked. Just weeks ago, President Tinubu approved billions for critical infrastructure in Katsina, Borno, and Niger States.Kwankwaso’s alarmist rhetoric is not only unfair but also deeply dangerous.

“It stokes regional tension and paints a false picture of deliberate southern favouritism. Development is a gradual process, and Tinubu has not yet reached the halfway mark of his term. By 2027, and indeed by 2031, every region, including the North, will feel the impact of this administration.”

He advised that: “We must rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriots. Let statesmen, not ethnic lords, shape the conversation.”