Mahdi Shehu: Northern Nigeria has conquered society

Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has referred to Northern Nigeria as a conquered society, attributing the region’s present difficulties to what he terms deficient leadership, greed, insecurity, and escalating economic hardship.

He made these comments in a post on his X account on Thursday, asserting that the North has been defeated both physically and tactically under democratic governance.

According to Shehu, most of the region’s problems stem from its own actions.

“The North has been defeated physically and tactically,” he wrote.

“The defeat became possible on account of some greedy and cowardly Northerners with material afflictions, who mortgaged the North on selfish grounds just for them to remain comfortable,” he said.

Shehu also attributed the region’s present condition to what he describes as the complacency of many northerners.

“The defeat has been foretold because docility became part of the pathology of majority Northerners.”

He further contended that inadequate judgment and a lack of foresight contributed to the North’s decline, stating, “The defeat became inevitable on account of the avoidable stupidity and shortsightedness of most Northerners.”

Shehu claimed that many people in the region misunderstand the nature of contemporary conflicts.

“We lost the war because we stupidly thought wars are fought with guns only whereas propaganda and shamelessness are the modern-day weapons of war,” he said.

Criticizing northern elders for their perceived lack of courageous leadership, he stated, “A society whose population of elders is made up mostly of cowards, selfish imbeciles with too much survival instinct is a society whose defeat is inevitable. Such is the Northern society.”

“With the level of hunger in the North, increasing death tolls from wanton killings, arson, deliberate murder, hunger, starvation, diseases, malnutrition, total collapse of infrastructure, compromised culture and values, total confusion and frustration, which are all signs of a conquered society, what remains is for the North to surrender and become prisoners of war.”

Shehu concluded that the North has been conquered and decimated under democracy through a mix of violence, economic policies, and, according to him, the region’s own stupidity and docility.