‘Nothing Troubles Me More Gravely Than the Crisis in the North’ – President Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says the unrelenting wave of violence ravaging Northern Nigeria remains his deepest worry, warning that the crisis threatens the country’s progress, unity and long-term stability.

Tinubu, represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, spoke on Saturday in Kaduna at the 25th Anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the launch of its Endowment Fund.

In his address, titled “A Generation Summoned by a Crisis,” the President said Nigeria cannot afford to ignore the gravity of the situation.

“Nothing troubles me more gravely than the security crisis bedevilling Nigeria, especially Northern Nigeria. Affliction in any part of the country is a setback for every part. We cannot prosper when one limb of the national body is paralysed,” he warned.

Tinubu admitted that his administration came into office at a time when insecurity had become “layered and sophisticated,” but assured that steps are being taken with “renewed urgency.”

“Yes, there have been missteps. Yes, there have been moments of drift. But we cannot say the North has failed unless we abandon our responsibility to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” he said.

He cautioned that unless trust is rebuilt, insecurity will continue to deepen economic hardship and widen educational deficits across the region.

The President said the North’s ethnic and religious diversity should remain a strength, noting that the dysfunction accumulated over decades had fractured social bonds.

“But let no one believe that hope is lost,” he noted.
“The dysfunction inherited over decades fractured bonds and strained unity. Yet the ethnic and religious diversity gathered here today is a declaration of the collective resolve to overcome polarisation.”

Tinubu restated his commitment to ending terrorism and banditry, reversing the region’s economic decline, and restoring normalcy.

He expressed optimism about Northern Nigeria’s economic potential, saying he looked forward to the day crude oil tankers from Kolmani and other inland fields begin operations.

Referencing ongoing national projects, Tinubu highlighted the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Superhighway, noting that it will be inaugurated in Kano “in the coming months.”

He said each generation carries its unique responsibilities, and the present one must confront the erosion of security, communal values and social ethics.

“We came at a time of a jarring rupture in the social ethics of a region whose stability is indispensable to our nation’s collective peace and prosperity,” he added.

Tinubu praised the ACF for its role in shaping national debate, describing it as “a moral and intellectual force” for 25 years.

In his remarks, ACF Board of Trustees Chairman, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, condemned the worsening insecurity, citing recent gruesome incidents across the North.

Dalhatu referenced:

The murder of Brigadier General M. U. Ba, filmed and circulated on social media.

The abduction of schoolchildren in Kebbi and Niger States.

The attack on St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, where 215 pupils and 12 teachers were kidnapped.

“All these are happening despite the seeming best efforts of our military and others,” he said.

“Endless reports of wanton killings, televised slaughter of military officers, mass abduction of school children, and further empowerment of ETC, are totally incompatible with the security system designed to specifically prevent it,” he lamented.

Dalhatu urged the Federal Government to immediately find a decisive way to end the violence.

He stressed that Nigerians are running out of patience as communities continue to endure mass displacement, attacks on schools, and expanding territories under the control of criminal groups.