Tinubu’s Govt Says The North Benefits More: Fact, Fiction, Deception, Political Shenanigans Or Political Hara-Kiri?

By Abbati Bako, PSC, BSIS, MIT

1. The Claim That Started The Fire
   In the last 12 months, several voices in the Tinubu administration have pushed a narrative:

“The Northern region is benefiting more from this government than any other region.”

The argument is used to defend policy decisions, appointments, and budget allocations. It’s also used to calm political tension in the North.

But Nigerians are asking: Is this fact, political deception, pure political statement, shenanigans or political hara-kiri?

2. ARGUMENT 1: The Case Government Makes – “North is Benefiting”
   The Presidency and its allies point to 4 things:
3. Appointments:

Key positions in NNPC, CBN, FIRS, NSA, and Agriculture are held by Northerners.

2. Infrastructure:

Renewed push for AKK Gas Pipeline, Kano-Maradi Rail, and Sokoto-Badagry Super-highway.

3. Agriculture:

Renewed Hope Agenda puts food security and dry season farming at the center and the North is the food basket.
4. Social Investment: N-Power, conditional cash transfer, and student loan beneficiaries are said to be disproportionately Northern.

Their logic:
“We are correcting the imbalance of the past 3 years.”

3. ARGUMENT 2:

The Counter-Facts “Where Are The Results?”
But data and reality tell a different story.

1. Poverty:

7 of the 10 poorest states in Nigeria are in the North according to NBS MPI 2022.

Out-of-school children:

10.2 million, with over 70% in Northern states. How does a region “benefit more” and get poorer?

2. Security:

Banditry, kidnapping, and farmer-herder crises are worst in North West and North Central. Markets are closed by 6pm. Farmers can’t go to farms.

3. Economy:

Subsidy removal and FX float hit the North hardest. Transport cost, fertilizer, and food prices doubled. MSMEs are collapsing in Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, and Maiduguri.

4. Budget Delivery:

Capital project execution in 2023/2024 was below 30% nationwide. Announcing a road is not the same as commissioning it.

So the question is: Are we confusing “appointments” with “development” ?

4. ARGUMENT 3:

The Political Angle, Why This Narrative Now?
This is where “shenanigans” comes in.

1. 2027 Politics:

With opposition realigning, the government needs to keep the North from defecting. “We are giving you more” is a political sedative.

2. Policy Defense:

When citizens complain about hardship, the easiest answer is “but look, we are always favoring you.”

3. Division Tactic:

Pitting region vs region distracts from the real issue: Is Nigeria working for all Nigerians?

Great leaders unite, they don’t use regional arithmetic to justify failure.

5. THE CLASSICAL TEST: What Does “Benefit” Really Mean?

A region benefits when:

1. Poverty drops Not rising
2. Schools are full. Not empty
3. Farms are safe. Not abandoned
4. Businesses are booming. Not closing.

By that standard, no region in Nigeria is “benefiting” right now. We are all in the same boat, taking in water.

6. VERDICT: Political Deception Wrapped in Shenanigans

Fact:

Some Northerners have appointments. Some projects are on paper.

Deception:

Calling appointments “development” while poverty and insecurity grow.

Shenanigans:

Using regional sentiment to shield the government from accountability.

Mr. President, the North does not need slogans. It needs food security, regional security, schools, health care and jobs. The South West needs the same. The South East and South South need the same too. But not borrowing from WB/IMF and other global financial institutions.

Conclusion:

Nigeria Needs Equity, Not Ethnic Accounting.
Stop telling us who is benefiting more. Show us the schools, the hospitals, the roads, and the food prices as well as control stagnation generally in the country. If after 3 years Northern Nigeria is still the world’s poverty capital, then the claim of “benefiting more” is not fact. It is a deception, shenanigans and political statement. Remember the fact that more than 70% of registered voters are from the Northern States. Kano, Kaduna, Katsina (3KKK States) each of the 3 States is like California in the American elections. In 2023 the Northern parts of the country contributed 62% of votes to ensure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu succeeded. By all indications the game patterns are changing; the opposition candidate from the North, Atiku Abubakar seems to be gaining ground to make sure the North become his soft theorem areas and South-South areas should be his battle grounds as well as the South-West and South-East become his swing areas. So long as in 2027; free, fair, credible and internationally acceptable elections to be held in Nigeria this prediction will not change. Nigerians are wiser now. We are no longer fighting region vs region. We are fighting economic precarity, insecurity, unemployment, hunger vs the government.

Abbati Bako, Global Political Analyst,
Former State Electoral Commissioner @Kasiec, political adviser, former Treasurer @Kano Chamber of Commerce, Students Mentor @Kent, UNi UK and Researcher in Globalization Policy @Skyline UNi KN
abbatibako@gmail.com