Top Joe

Hi northerners, come and read, but make sure you do so, with open minds and sincerity in your hearts. “₦1 billion was paid to bandits by the present government of Kaduna. They are paying bandits. They apologise to bandits. If the governor or anyone in the government disagrees, let them deny it, we have the evidence.” — Nasir El-Rufai “Bandits are our heroes inside the bush. We don’t want a government that will kill them; we want a government that will negotiate with them. If we negotiate with them, they’ll protect our bush.” — Sheikh Ahmad Gumi “We went to Sheikh Gumi’s house. We contributed ₦800,000. We pleaded with him, especially me and some other women. We told him we are widows. That he should help us. He said we should go and bring money. We said we don’t have any more money. He said the ₦800,000 is just for his transport fare to go and meet them.” — One of the mothers of the kidnapped girls These statements and many other ridiculous ones were made openly. Publicly. Confidently. And yet, there was no united outrage, no collective condemnation from leaders or communities in the North, some of your social media influencers were silent too. In fact, many people even defended these narratives, as if the rest of the country is blind to the suffering, kidnappings, killings, and chaos happening daily. But the moment “The Herds,” a movie reflecting the painful reality of insecurity, was released, suddenly you people found your voice. Suddenly there was anger. Suddenly there was unity, but against a film, not against the terrorists destroying lives. Let’s be honest: The majority of terror attacks Nigeria has endured for over a decade, from kidnappings, banditry, Boko Haram, ISWAP all have come and operating primarily from the North. That is a fact nobody can deny. But instead of confronting these extremist groups head-on, holding leaders accountable, and collectively rejecting the ideology that fuels them, too many people remain silent or worse, offer excuses. Until Northern political leaders, traditional rulers, religious voices, and community influencers collectively stand up and say: “This is wrong.” “This is not Islam.” “These criminals do not represent us.” …then the world will continue to associate the region with terrorism and those who excuse it. No region, tribe, or religion deserves that kind of stigma. But only the people from within can change the narrative. Nigeria cannot heal if the North does not confront the extremists hiding among its own people. And Nigeria cannot be safe until all of us, North, South, East, West, Christian, Muslim, unite against those who profit from bloodshed.