North backwardness product of failed leadership – Col Gwadabe
Retired military officer and Northern elder, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe, said Northern Nigeria’s backwardness is the product of failed leadership. Speaking, on Thursday, during a press conference to mark the 30th anniversary of Hassan Katsina’s death, Gwadabe decried what he described as tragic betrayal of the leadership ideals of the late General Hassan Usman Katsina by […]
Retired military officer and Northern elder, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe, said Northern Nigeria’s backwardness is the product of failed leadership.
Speaking, on Thursday, during a press conference to mark the 30th anniversary of Hassan Katsina’s death, Gwadabe decried what he described as tragic betrayal of the leadership ideals of the late General Hassan Usman Katsina by today’s Northern elites.
“The poverty afflicting Northern Nigeria is not an accident like slave trade or apartheid,” Gwadabe declared. “It is man-made and can be reversed by the collective actions of leaders at the helm of affairs today.”
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The event, organized by the New Vision Development Initiative (NEVDI), served not just to honor the late General Katsina, but to raise alarm over what Gwadabe called a “leadership vacuum” plaguing the region.
He called on Northern politicians and traditional rulers to rediscover the sense of sacrifice, urgency, and empathy that defined Katsina’s leadership.
“Gen. Hassan was a leader who talked, and the entire North respectfully listened. He never hesitated to visit public officials and leaders to convey strongly his viewpoints,” Gwadabe said.
According to him, Katsina’s legacy was grounded in compassion, courage, and selfless service attributes largely absent in the current crop of Northern leaders.
“From morning to evening, General Hassan was tirelessly working for the common man. A problem at his doorstep was actually a problem solved,” he said.
Gwadabe expressed deep concern over the state of education and youth development in the North, especially the persistence of the Almajiri system, which Katsina spent his post-retirement years campaigning against.
“General Hassan always advocated education for all because that is the key for liberation and the emancipation of the mind,” he said.
He warned that without quality leadership and genuine followership, the region would continue to stagnate.
“Leadership is a responsibility, not a throne. The North today is practically under dire straits. All Northerners must reflect on what went wrong,” Gwadabe warned.
Citing the recent creation of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, Gwadabe called it a welcome move long championed by Katsina, but quickly expressed doubt about the federal government’s seriousness.
“Without adequate funding, the Tinubu administration may just be playing to the gallery. It may become another political gimmick to placate the North,” he said.
Gwadabe also lamented the culture of sidelining elder statesmen and experts in public decision-making.
“Our experienced hands in the North are totally sidelined by our current political class. This is totally unacceptable,” he added.