Northern Nigeria Under a Curse of Bloodshed and Poverty – Dogara Warns, Demands Urgent Action
Story: written by Zara October 1,2025
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has lamented the rising insecurity and poverty in northern Nigeria, warning that the scale of bloodshed has placed the region under what he described as a “spiritual curse.”
Dogara made the remarks on Tuesday during a panel session at the Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS) 2025, organized by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in Abuja.
“With the kind of bloodletting we are witnessing in the North, if you are a person of faith, you will know that we are operating under a curse because it is human blood,” Dogara said.
He stressed that the crisis has gone beyond socio-political challenges and must now be treated as a national emergency, warning that Nigeria’s overall development will remain stagnant if the North is left behind.
“The development of northern Nigeria is not a regional prerogative. It must be seen as a national emergency. If the vast number of people in the North are not developed, Nigeria is going nowhere,” he cautioned.
Dogara also called on leaders and citizens in the region to abandon a culture of dependency and take ownership of their future.
“We need to depart from doing business as usual and embrace radical, transformative action. Help is not coming from anywhere — we must take our destiny into our own hands,” he declared.
The former Speaker’s remarks add to growing calls for urgent reforms to tackle insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment in northern Nigeria, which remain major threats to the nation’s stability.
