By Muhammad Mamman
Kaduna’s fiery Governor Uba Sani has unleashed a blistering critique of Northern Nigeria’s political elite, accusing them of failing the region over the past two decades. In a hard-hitting interview with Arise TV on Thursday, Sani called out prominent figures including Atiku Abubakar, Kashim Shettima, Nasir El-Rufai, Bukola Saraki, and Sule Lamido for leaving the North grappling with rampant insecurity, crippling poverty, and systemic decline.
“We must hold a mirror to ourselves,” Sani declared, urging Northern leaders who held sway at national and state levels to accept responsibility. “Those of us who led in the last 20 years owe our region an apology for our failures.” He stressed the need for unity to tackle shared challenges, insisting, “We face a common crisis and must forge a common solution.”
Sani didn’t hold back on what he sees as double standards, lambasting Northern politicians for vocally criticising President Bola Tinubu, a Southerner, while staying silent when a Northern leader is in power. “Our voices vanish when a Northerner leads the nation,” he said, decrying the tendency to deflect blame onto outsiders. “We can’t keep pointing fingers elsewhere while shirking our own accountability.”
Echoing remarks made earlier this week at an Ahmadu Bello Foundation event in Kaduna, Sani’s bold stance targets a roster of Northern heavyweights, including the late Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
With his uncompromising call for introspection and action, Governor Sani is shaking up the North’s political landscape, demanding a reckoning for years of missed opportunities.
