LAST week, I read a very lengthy article by Lasisi Olagunju published in The Nigerian Tribune on Monday, 15 June 2026, and what caught my attention most was its striking headline: “NORTHERN NIGERIA WILL SOON KILL NIGERIA.” Ah ahn, how exactly?
When I first read the opening paragraph, my immediate reaction was outrage. How could he say such a thing? Was this another attempt to blame the North for every problem confronting Nigeria? If there is any region that has suffered most from insecurity, terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, it is Northern Nigeria itself.
But as I continued reading, a different feeling crept in. Paragraph after paragraph, I found myself asking a difficult question: where is the lie? That is both the good and the bad thing about the piece.
The good part is that the writer captured many uncomfortable truths correctly. The bad part is that he did not miss much. Every point read like a mirror placed in front of us, forcing us to confront realities we would rather avoid.
It is not an easy article for a northerner to read. It is painful, sometimes infuriating, and at certain points it feels unfair. Yet beyond the harsh language and sweeping conclusions lies a challenge that cannot simply be dismissed. If we truly desire a safer North and a stronger Nigeria, we must separate emotion from reality and honestly examine the issues being raised.
Not every statement in the article is fair. Not every generalisation holds true. Millions of decent, hardworking northerners wake up every day trying to build better lives for themselves and their families. They should never be defined by the actions of criminals.
But beyond the discomfort lies an even deeper reality. We cannot continue to lead the country in poverty rates, out-of-school children, banditry, insurgency and mass abductions, and then become angry when people ask difficult questions. We cannot keep explaining away our failures while expecting different outcomes.
The greatest tragedy is that the North has produced some of Nigeria’s finest scholars, administrators, soldiers, judges and statesmen. We know what excellence looks like because we have achieved it before—which makes the current reality even more painful.
So if we must point fingers, I would direct mine at northern leadership and ask: which way forward? How much longer shall we pretend all is well while our villages empty out, our children remain out of school, our farmers fear their own farmlands, and our brightest minds continue to leave? How long shall we treat symptoms while ignoring the disease?
Because it is a different kind of pain when outsiders criticise your people. It is an even deeper pain when your own actions—or inaction—give the world reasons to do so. And perhaps the most painful truth of all is that the North already has what it needs to rise again, if only it finds the courage to confront itself honestly.
Voice just cleared its throat.
- Kabara is a writer and public commentator. Her syndicated column, Voice, appears in News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday. She can be reached at hafceekay01@gmail.com.
