Political activist and youth leader, Usman Okai-Austin, has challenged northern politicians to prioritize development over the endless pursuit of political power, stressing that decades of dominance at the center have not translated into improved living conditions for ordinary people in the region.
Okai-Austin, who contested the Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST.
“The North wants development, not empty political power. What is the use of political power when you don’t alleviate the poverty of your people?” he asked.
According to him, northern leaders have consistently failed to address poverty, insecurity, and the rising number of out-of-school children despite holding sway at the federal level for many years.
He recalled that former President Goodluck Jonathan, despite being a Christian from Bayelsa State, introduced a transformative programme that targeted northern challenges by establishing 157 modern Almajiri schools.
“Jonathan modernized the Almajiri system to take children off the streets. But when Buhari came, those schools were abandoned and destroyed. Can anybody be more northern than Buhari? A Muslim from Katsina and a former military leader — yet what did he do for the North?” Okai-Austin queried.
The activist dismissed the narrative of northern marginalization, arguing that those who held top positions in the last administration had every opportunity to improve the region but chose not to.
“People like El-Rufai, Babachir Lawal, and Malami were in power. Malami was as powerful as the president for eight years. What did they do? Now they are crying marginalization,” he said.
Okai-Austin maintained that the real marginalized are the jobless youths, women without healthcare, farmers unable to access their lands due to insecurity, and children still roaming the streets without education.
He called for a generational shift in northern leadership, insisting that the old guard had failed.
“The younger generation of the North should take over leadership. Those who have been in power have failed. They only use the North as a bargaining chip for their personal interest,” he declared.
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