Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has expressed deep concern over the rising insecurity and poverty in northern Nigeria.
He warned that the scale of killings has placed the region under what he described as a “spiritual curse.”
Speaking on Tuesday, during a panel session at the Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS) 2025 organized by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in Abuja, Dogara emphasized that the crisis now demands urgent national attention.
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“With the kind of bloodletting we are witnessing in the North, if you are a person of faith, you will know that we are operating under a curse because it is human blood,” the former Speaker said.
He lamented that insecurity and poverty in the region had reached catastrophic levels, warning that Nigeria’s overall progress would remain stalled unless decisive measures are taken.
Dogara stressed that northern development cannot be treated as a regional issue alone.
“The development of northern Nigeria is not a regional prerogative.
“It must be seen as a national emergency. If the vast number of people we have in the North are not developed, Nigeria is going nowhere,” he cautioned.
The former Speaker also urged northern leaders and citizens to abandon dependence on external solutions and take charge of their own destiny.
“We need to depart from doing business as usual and embrace radical, transformative action.
“Help is not coming from anywhere we must take our destiny into our own hands,” Dogara added, highlighting the need for proactive local leadership in addressing both poverty and insecurity.
