President Bola Tinubu on Saturday said insecurity remains Nigeria’s most serious challenge, particularly in the northern region, and warned that the country cannot achieve meaningful progress unless safety is restored.
Tinubu, represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, spoke at the 25th anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the launch of its endowment fund.
“Nothing troubles me more gravely than the security crisis bedevilling Nigeria, especially Northern Nigeria,” Tinubu said. “We cannot prosper when one limb of the national body is paralysed.”
He said his administration inherited complex security problems but was addressing them with “urgency and determination,” adding that the government remained committed to eliminating terrorist and bandit groups operating across the North.
Tinubu said insecurity had contributed to economic decline and setbacks in education, and warned that failure to act decisively would worsen the situation.
The president expressed optimism about northern Nigeria’s economic prospects, saying he looked forward to crude oil production beginning at Kolmani and other northern oil fields.
He also said major infrastructure projects, including the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Superhighway, were being accelerated for completion.
Tinubu urged northern leaders to confront the region’s challenges with honesty, saying progress would be impossible if vulnerable communities continued to suffer neglect.
“We fail the day we sleep comfortably while millions sleep with empty bellies, the day fear becomes a permanent companion for travellers,” he said.
He added that decades of dysfunction had weakened national cohesion, but said the diverse turnout at the ACF event showed a willingness to rebuild unity.
Tinubu praised the ACF for what he called 25 years of advocacy and service, saying the forum had acted as the conscience of the North.
He urged leaders in all sectors to recommit to the values that guided the ACF’s founding, stressing that the unity and stability of the North were essential to Nigeria’s overall peace and development.