Dr. Mohammed Dahiru, a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Chairman of the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer, has strongly defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to northern development. In a candid appearance on Arise News on Saturday from 9:20, August 2, 2025, Dahiru dismissed claims of marginalization and placed blame squarely on northern leaders for failing to harness opportunities for progress.
Dahiru recalled President Tinubu’s campaign promises on agriculture and security during a visit to Minna, Niger State: “He promised us that he’s going to do agriculture. I was there. I followed him all over the country. We were in Minna on the 8th of November, to be precise. And he told them during the agri-town hall meeting… the issue you have in northern Nigeria is that you cannot farm all year round. And I’m going to address that.”
He noted that the President had already begun delivering on that promise: “We’ve launched an Irrigate Nigeria project in Bauchi, and we’re going to expand it.”
On insecurity, Dahiru gave a touching account from Tinubu’s visit to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State: “We drove to Birnin Gwari around 10 p.m. The Emir was crying. He said nobody has ever come to visit him. And the president told him, I’m going to address security challenges. And he’s addressing it.”
He pointed to key northern appointments in the current administration as further evidence of inclusivity: “We have the NSA from the north. We have the Chief of Defense Staff from the north. We have the two Ministers of Defense from the north. And we are seeing progress in terms of fighting bandits.”
Dahiru criticized northern elites for failing to act on decentralized opportunities in areas like power: “Let me tell you, the issue of power, it has been decentralized now. States can now generate power. In the north, we have abundant solar… I have not seen the Arewa Consultative Forum or the others coming up with blueprints that we can use.”
He called out the Northern Governors Forum as well: “Have they even gone to the Northern Governors Forum and said, ‘Okay, this has been decentralized, and we have this. How can we put up a structure that will attract investment…?’”
Dahiru warned that constant external blame would only prolong the region’s stagnation: “If you are given the opportunity to govern yourself… and they are not working for the government or for the northern Nigeria, is it the president’s fault?… We tend to push our problems to people that are outside the region.”
