Credit to Northern governors for NNSTF

I have been much surprised that the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund (NNSTF) established last month by the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has not generated as much public interest and debate as one would have expected for such a consequential policy. I think it should. First of all, the very idea of establishing a security fund represents a good example of responsive governance. Of course, it is belated: such a policy should have come sooner. For more than two decades now, Northern Nigeria has been the hotbed of perhaps 70 per cent of all insecurity in the country, several dimensions of which directly threaten the very existence of the Nigerian state. From religious insurgency and terrorism in the North East, banditry in the North West, to frequent farmer-herder and indigene-settler communal clashes in the North Central, the North—and Nigeria—has scarcely known any quiet since the early 2000s. All of these have decimated lives, limbs, and livelihoods across nearly every state in the region. No doubt, then, that Northern Governors should have established such a security fund much earlier than now. Still, it is better late than never. The establishment of the NNSTF is therefore an important first step as it suggests that the Northern governors are now responding to public concerns with a policy initiative rather than more talk. After all, public policy is the surest mechanism by which governments work to resolve collective problems. This is commendable, and should elicit interest, debate and the involvement of all stakeholders, including citizens. Secondly, the initiative is responsive to the need for collective action for addressing peculiar but collective northern problems, a point I have argued repeatedly in this column, and it is refreshing to see policymakers finally walking in this direction. The various forms of security challenges northern Nigeria face are conducted by the same set of actors, but their activities are not limited to any one state. This is as true of Boko Haram attacks as it is of banditry or farmer-herder and indigene-settler conflicts, all of which cut across multiple states. Communal conflicts in one state often trigger reprisals in another or others states. Such a problem therefore calls for regional leadership and governance, since no individual state can adequately deal with any of these alone. Yet, insecurity is not the only peculiar but collective challenge northern Nigeria faces today. The statistics are now befuddled, but there is no question that the vast majority of Nigeria’s out-of-school children are in the northern states. The almajiri phenomenon, which is the biggest driver of the numbers for out-of-school children in the country, is entirely a northern factor that cuts across all 19 states to some degree. We certainly have the least private sector investment and development in the country, along with several other unpleasant development indices. The Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund (NNSTF) is therefore a model of collective leadership that can be transferred to other areas of regional governance and development areas, since several policy challenges not only cut across 19 northern states, but also defy the capacity of any individual states to tackle alone. The model can be used, for example, to address out-of-school children or develop a regional public transport network. Establishing an airline by any state is scarcely a development priority in my view, but states like Kano and Sokoto that are reportedly considering doing so could instead pool resources together to establish a single multi-state-owned airline strong enough for both domestic and international operations. The collective regional leadership that the NNSTF demonstrates is also in keeping with the political and constitutional transformations underway by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. As I argued recently in these pages, President Tinubu’s political reforms are based on a return to the old federal model of strong regions rather than our current weak states. I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing, but rather than political resistance or noisy complaints, the North can respond positively by putting its house in order, and by demonstrating some measure of self-reliance within the framework of the Nigerian federation. Northern Nigeria simply cannot continue to be defined as the only problem with the country. For example, the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund speaks directly to the idea of State Police currently being pushed by the Tinubu administration. I do not believe there is any state in Northern Nigeria that can adequately fund a genuinely functional police organisation. Moreover, real security challenges in the North are Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, cattle rustling, farmer-herder clashes, and religious cum communal clashes. I sincerely doubt if the establishment of a state police by any state in the region can help much with all these. That

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