BY Luka Binniyat

KADUNA-The Arewa Youths Forum, AYF, has decried the level of disunity and lack of progress in the old North, blaming the situation on poor leadership at all levels of government in the area.

National President of the forum, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu who lamented over the situation regretted that the leadership in the North was not concerned about the poverty level in the area, streesing that the North as it is known today was a shadow of itself.

Gujungu warned that the Presidency would elude the North in 2015 because of the level of disthrust and division based on religious and ethnic considerations.

According to the forum, the people of the region, mainly the peasants were ‘’now laughing stock of other Nigerians because of lack of foresight and selfishness of the elite leaders who have mortgaged the North’’.

Gujungu spoke in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna adding, “let it be known without any fear of contradiction that the North is finished and has collapsed. Where is the unity of the North? Where is the oneness of the North, and where is the strength and cohesion of the North?

‘’The North is only a mere geographical location, but without its known features and characteristics. Tell me the place of Northern Nigeria in the wider politics of Nigeria. Politically do we have the strength and capacity, to bargain for power and economic issues.

“Southern Nigeria is doing what they call integration, where is our strategy and synergy? Any synergy or coming together you hear in the North is aimed at achieving individuals’ interests and ego.

‘’Tell me the number of presidents the South has produced, and I will prove you that although they are few, they are more focused and resolute on issues related to their general good.

“The peasants in the region must be mobilized to carry their destinies in their own hands. The People of the North whether they are Muslims or Christians must know the reality on ground and liberate hemselves.

‘’We must mobilize our people to realise that those dividing us are united in pursuing their political and economical interests. We must revolt against falsehood and political cheats that use our differences as bargaining tools for attaining their personal dreams.

“We are not beyond redemption, but we must work hard for such redemption. I cannot guarantee that we will get power back in 2015 because our house is not in order. What are the collective strategies geared towards ameliorating our sufferings?

’’Our people are dying daily of preventable diseases, our education sector is in crises and so is the wide division on ethnic and religious grounds,” Gujungu further lamented.