Don't Destroy Our Future — North-South Alliance Tells Presidency

Being text of a press conference addressed by  the North-South Progressive Youth Stakeholders in Abuja on the frightening strain to the North-South Alliance being orchestrated by suspected elements in the Presidency. 

The unfolding events leading to the 2023 Presidential Election have continued to raise concerns in many quarters. The machinations and the skirmishes of certain non-progressive elements within the Presidency, who have been fingered to be the purveyors of this ploy, not only rubbishes the impacts recorded in the North-South progressive alliance but also completely places it in jeopardy. This individuals with their clandestine motives have continued to play with our unity as a country, using their powers to inflict needless hardship on Nigerians for their selfish and devilish interests. 

Our country's politics and development have benefitted from the rich and cordial relationship that exist between the north and south as far back as the pre-independence Nigeria. Our forebears stood against the colonial masters and, hand-in-hand, made the case for self-rule, for independence and for the birth of our great Nation — Nigeria. All through the years, successive northern leaders, both military and civilians, have continued to respect the bond between the northern and southern Nigeria, thus paying great respect to the virtues and  commitment to the ideals of national unity espoused by great leaders like Uthman Dan Fodio and the great Sir Ahmadu Bello, who was particularly a conservative Nigerian statesman who saw Northern Nigeria through independence.

While we believe the symbiotic alliance between the northern and southern Nigeria has greatly benefitted the north; recent history particularly throw up an idolized northern political figure and friend of the talakawa who benefitted from this deep relationship with the south after three failed attempts at the ballot. General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was, wasn’t going to emerge  President of Nigeria until the North-South alliance was re-enacted late 2013 which birthed the All Progressive Congress (APC) by 2015 to challenge the destructive and elitist political party that has mis-governed Nigeria into abject poverty. This same collaboration and alliance with the south saw the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari for a   second term  in 2019. 

The government of President Muhammadu Buhari which was largely a product of the alliance has delivered a Nigeria where infrastructures are being developed across the length and breadth of the country; with the government renewing its focus on bettering the lives of the poor considerably and progressively. This is the impact we have seen with the progressive alliance, and this is what should continue as we move into the elections in a few weeks. Anything different from this would mean that we are risking the likelihood of reversing all the progress that have been made under the APC government in almost 8 years. We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to resist this attempt to force us back to the dark days and to join hands with us to fight the enemies of Nigeria and its progressive future. We must not only expose all the enemies of Nigeria who have resolved to deploy avoidable hardship to force their will on Nigerians; we must also ensure we shame them by confronting their gimmicks with superior courage and go ahead to put in place a government for Nigeria and Nigerians come February 25. We must not fall to the pressure and blackmail to elect a government dictated by the Aso Rock cabals. 

We use this opportunity to call on all well-meaning Nigerians of northern extraction and of the progressive tendency to speak up now. The north cannot be seen as a dishonorable region and completely self-centered. This is not us or what we represent. This is not our faith, and this is not what we are known to be. The north is honourable, we honour our alliance and commitments. We honour our agreements. It is the fundamentals of our faith and we must not allow the selfish interests of a few who are blinded to history, and who are completely unmindful of the future, to destroy what we've been known for. We have a duty, we have commitment, and we must transit power to the south now rather than later.  We can’t scuttle what we have built with hard work and with great sacrifice. 

Should we fail this alliance that produced President Buhari at this time, it will be that we have failed our future and threatening the political fortunes of millions of young Northern politicians ; it will be that we've failed the future of the North in this arrangement. The question to those pushing the current dishonorable agenda would then be: How will the South West trust us again? What message are we sending to our children and posterity? 

While we understand the grand conspiracy playing out to frustrate the transition of power to the south, ranging from the sudden naira redesign policy and the artificial fuel scarcity that are meant to piss off the voters and dissuade them from voting the APC; we as the future of the north are totally against this devilish plans that did not even consider the plights of the masses and the poor.   We would stand and speak against the conscienceless individuals in the corridors of power and ensure that they do not destroy our future and the continued progress promised by the progressive and working alliance between our region and the south.

Convener 

Alwan Hassan