Jelili Gbadamosi
Ango Abdullahi, elder statesman and former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), has attributed the North’s current stagnation and difficult situation to what he described as the loss of the region’s core values.
Abdullahi made the remark on Saturday while speaking at the third edition of the Late Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina Memorial Conference held at Arewa House in Kaduna.
According to him, the abandonment of the values inherited from previous generations and the region’s founding leaders has contributed significantly to the North’s present challenges.
“The North has lost its values. You may not want to hear this, but that is the case today. If we have not lost the values we inherited from our parents, from our pioneer leaders, the North will not be where it is today,” he said.
He maintained that despite visible physical development, the region’s fundamental problem remains the erosion of the principles that once guided its people.
“The North is in a pathetic situation. For me, that is the only reason why the North has stagnated. Don’t worry about the buildings you see. The basic issue concerning where the North finds itself today is the loss of our values,” Abdullahi stated.
He urged Northern leaders and residents to return to the ideals of integrity, discipline and selfless leadership demonstrated by past generations, expressing confidence that such a shift would restore the region’s fortunes.
“If we can go back to those values, particularly by remembering those who inherited them and practised them, there is no doubt in my mind that the North would have been different today,” he added.
