Former Kano governor Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso pulled no punches during Thursday’s Kano State Stakeholders’ Dialogue, accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of a “systemic tilt” towards the South in the allocation of federal resources.
“From the information available to us, it’s like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country,” he thundered, lamenting deplorable road conditions in the North even as mega‑projects bloom in the South.
A sobering look at poverty figures reveals why Kwankwaso’s outcry resonates.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 65 per cent of Nigeria’s 133 million multidimensionally poor citizens—some 86 million people—reside in the Northern region, compared with just 35 per cent in the South.
And while official figures show the 2025 federal budget dedicates N10 trillion to capital expenditure—of which only a fraction finds its way north—even more is earmarked for southern rail and road projects.
Last week, the Senate lauded a US\$3 billion allocation for the Eastern Rail Line stretching from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, a deeply symbolic investment that appeared to favour the South-East corridor.
Security, too, is at a breaking point. In April 2025, rural violence in Benue and Plateau states claimed over 150 lives and displaced thousands, underscoring a crisis left largely unaddressed by Abuja.
Meanwhile, the year-long insurgency in the North-East has cost an estimated 35 000 lives and driven 2 million people from their homes.
How much longer can the North endure this double blow of economic neglect and existential threat?
Historical comparison only deepens the sting. Under former President Muhammadu Buhari, regional allocations remained more evenly balanced—even if budgetary bumps were never entirely free of controversy.
Yet today’s lopsided spending starkly contrasts with the vision of a united federation, fuelling fresh alienation among communities already grappling with hunger, radicalisation and mass displacement.
Kwankwaso’s demand is simple yet seismic: “Ensure equitable distribution of scarce resources for the development of all parts of the country.”
In a nation teetering on the edge of renewed malaise, will Tinubu’s government heed the warning, or will Northern Nigeria’s “desert” of deprivation continue to spread? The stakes could not be higher.
