Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer to the late General Sani Abacha, has stated that there are plans to unify the North.

In a media briefing on the sidelines of the memory of Sardauna Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of Northern Nigeria, organized by the Rebuild Arewa Initiative for Development in Kaduna, Al-Mustapha expressed that it would be wrong for them to sit back and watch the North decay.

Sharing his plans for unifying the North, the former Chief Security Officer said, “we know we would hurt people."

"It is better to hurt people and get it back on course for us to achieve what we desire, so that the country, at the end, would be the beneficiary of the unity in the North.

Institutions that are in the 19 Northern states are either weak or not there at all. We are seeing gaps that are responsible for the social ills bedevilling the North.

Therefore, identifying the problems and rather than seeing succour, we would always continue to see crime rate on the increase, which is a capital shame.

We cannot sit and say, we are from the North and continue to see institutions decay, crime rate on the increase, leaders indifferent, younger ones in disarray, and we believe that is the right environment to be.

That’s why when you allow wounds to get bad, definitely in the process of healing, there must be pains.

So without mincing words, we are calling for processes of healing. Not only calling, we are part and parcel of it. We may say one or two things, that may disturb segments of leadership, old and young, it matters not.

We intend to get the North back on track and to get it unified. To do so, we know we would hurt people. It is better to hurt people and get it back on course for us to achieve what we desire, so that the country at the end would be the beneficiary of the unity in the North.

If there is, the economy would be affected, security, social problems, the politics in itself, politics and polity, democracy would be healthier, and then I can see other parts of the country would also copy.

So we are starting here, not only to speak, the speaking is to get the leaders and the younger ones awakened, for us to now march forward, outline plans. I learned by February 22nd that there is another meeting coming up in Bauchi, I deliberately intend to be there, identifying some of the vibrant associations, what is left for us is to garner what’s necessary to get them involved.

Major Al-Mustapha claims that the incumbent leaders from the Northern region were directionless and has no sympathy for their states.

“When it comes to sitting as 19 Northern Governors, to chart a course where they can have think tanks, on social development, developmental programmes, education, security, welfare, the wellbeing of the citizenry,we don’t see any of such been at the centre,” he alleged.