By AUSTINE AGBO EMMANUEL, Kaduna Key northern stakeholders have thrown their weight behind Arewa 100 per cent Focus, a youth-dr
By AUSTINE AGBO EMMANUEL, Kaduna
Key northern stakeholders have thrown their weight behind Arewa 100 per cent Focus, a youth-driven movement aimed at charting a new path for the socio-economic and political rebirth of the region.
The growing momentum reflects a shift in mindset across Northern Nigeria, where youths are no longer content with playing passive roles in governance by relying on recycled political figures, instead the new generation is stepping forward to demand accountability, promote peace, and pursue policies that will reposition Arewa for genuine development.
Speaking at the Kaduna Unity and Development Summit held over the weekend at the historic Arewa House, Grand Patron of the movement, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, lamented the myriad of challenges confronting the North, particularly insecurity and the collapse of the education system. He, however, expressed optimism in the renewed drive of young northerners to take ownership of the region’s future.
“The problems of Arewa are many and have been succinctly articulated. But I am encouraged by the fact that this initiative is youth-driven. That is the hope we need,” Imam said.
He decried the alarming rate of out-of-school children in the region, noting that over 50 percent of school-age children in northern Nigeria are not in formal education. According to him, northern governors must take deliberate steps to prioritize education as seen in states like Lagos.
“The Almajiri system, as currently practised, is a distortion of Islamic principles. There is nothing Islamic about children roaming the streets to beg. This is not the practice in other Muslim countries,” he said, adding that mass literacy and youth empowerment remain the most sustainable pathway to ending insecurity and dependency in the region.
In his welcome remarks, Convener of Arewa 100% Focus, Hon. Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Sa’adu, said the initiative was borne out of a collective urgency to redirect the North’s trajectory away from crisis and towards growth.
“What started with a few patriotic young minds has now evolved into a broad-based regional platform for transformation,” he said. “We are determined to reawaken the Arewa spirit by empowering our youth, restoring the moral authority of traditional institutions, and fostering inclusive development.”
Dr. Sa’adu unveiled a number of intervention programmes including the Arewa Unity Cup, grassroots peace dialogues, school-based mentorship initiatives, and economic empowerment schemes designed to reach youth across the 19 northern states and the FCT.
He commended the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for embracing the vision of the movement and supporting the ideals of youth-led change, describing the gesture as a symbol of intergenerational solidarity.
Chairman of the summit and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, represented by Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura, called on the region’s political elite to subordinate partisan interests to the broader goal of regional development.
“Arewa must rise beyond insecurity, youth restiveness, and infrastructural decay. We must invest in education, rebuild local industries, and create opportunities for our youth. A prosperous North is possible if unity becomes our shared language,” he stated.
Yari stressed that healing the fractures of division and distrust requires deliberate efforts to promote peace, inclusion, and cooperation.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the FCT, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, cautioned against inflammatory rhetoric and called on the youth to become champions of peace and national cohesion.
“The Arewa we aspire to is one in which people can move freely across states without fear or suspicion. We must replace ethnic division with the message of unity and mutual respect,” Hayab said.
The summit brought together traditional leaders, civil society actors, community influencers, and youth groups under one roof to brainstorm on a roadmap for repositioning northern Nigeria.
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