Mahdi Shehu: ‘Northern Nigeria Has Been Defeated Physically and Tactically’

Social commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has said Northern Nigeria is facing what he describes as a “physical and tactical defeat,” blaming greed, shortsightedness, and weak leadership for the region’s worsening crises.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Shehu accused some Northerners of sacrificing the collective future of the region for personal comfort, a situation he argued made collapse inevitable.

“The defeat became inevitable on account of the avoidable stupidity and shortsightedness of most Northerners,” he wrote.

He criticized Northern elders, describing them as selfish, cowardly, and overly concerned with survival rather than progress. According to him, the North has slipped into a state of inaction and complacency that resembles a coma.

Highlighting the region’s challenges, Shehu listed hunger, killings, arson, starvation, disease, malnutrition, infrastructural decay, and the erosion of cultural values as signs of a “conquered society.”

He warned that if these trends continue, some Northerners may eventually migrate to Southern states such as Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ogun, and Ondo, where they risk losing their identity over time.

“The North became conquered and decimated under democracy, with both bullets, economics, and its democratic stupidity and docility,” Shehu added.