Courting Votes Amid Northern Chaos

Nigeria’s Northern region deserves security, not just votes. As politicians scramble for 2027 endorsements, the North’s greatest cry is not for power, but for peace

In a tragic paradox, political actors are again making the rounds across the Northern states. This situation has become all too familiar in Nigeria. They are seeking endorsements ahead of the 2027 general elections. Yet, this courtship is unfolding in a region riddled with insecurity. We see this in the menace of banditry and Boko Haram. The growing specter of kidnapping and communal clashes are still potent. The political dance continues, but the drumbeats of violence drown out any promises of prosperity. Some of us wonder how hard it is to understand. In the North, the real battleground is not the ballot. It is the struggle for survival.

The Danger of Normalised Insecurity
What does it say about our leadership’s quality? Votes are being pursued in communities too unsafe to hold school assemblies. They can’t even host market days or evening prayers. The mere fact that politicians can campaign in regions under siege is troubling. They are even welcomed with fanfare by local elites. This suggests that insecurity is no longer a crisis but a backdrop. It is accepted and woven into the fabric of our politics.

We are witnessing the emergence of what I call electoral gaslighting. This is a phenomenon where leaders deny or downplay the region’s most existential threat while talking up abstract policy promises. Such posturing erodes public trust. But it also undermines any genuine effort to tackle insecurity at its root. When ballots are courted amid bullets, leadership has lost its moral compass.

A Manifesto for Peace Beyond Endorsements
Politicians that are sincere about earning the North’s support, must shift from empty pledges. They must embrace a bold, practical, and security-centric agenda. What is needed is not just a northern endorsement. They deserve a Manifesto for a Peaceful Northern Nigeria. It must be one that acknowledges the pain, proposes solutions, and offers hope. Electoral courtship without security reforms is just elite theatre.

Here is a Four-Point Pillar  that could constitute  such a manifesto:

1. Security as a Non-Negotiable Human Right

• Declare regional peace and safety as the top governance priority.
• Commit to decentralized security architecture: support community policing, vigilante reforms, and subnational intelligence networks.
• Strengthen collaboration between federal forces and local actors without politicizing security.

2. Rehabilitation, Not Just Retaliation

• Scale up rehabilitation centers for displaced families, ex-fighters, and abducted persons.
• Implement targeted psycho-social support and trauma recovery programs for children and youth in conflict zones.
• Invest in de-radicalisation programs led by clerics, traditional leaders, and mental health professionals.

3. Education and Employment as Long-Term Antidotes

• Secure and rebuild schools through a “Safe Schools Pact” between states and the federal government.
• Create peace-industry zones in affected regions, offering youth apprenticeships, tech training, and agricultural cooperatives.
• Reclaim ungoverned spaces with youth-driven public works programs—building roads, solar power grids, and irrigation systems.

4. Accountable Governance and Community Ownership

• Set up regional Peace and Development Councils with representation from CSOs, faith-based organisations, women, and youth.
• Publicly disclose and audit security-related federal allocations to ensure funds are not siphoned or politicized.
• Promote traditional justice systems in tandem with formal courts to settle land and resource disputes swiftly and fairly.

Nigeria’s political elites must realise that there are risks in continued political cynicism. If the North is once again used only as a voting bloc, there will be consequences. If we do not address its bleeding heart, those consequences will haunt us all. Insecurity will spread, democracy will further erode, and the already fragile trust in governance will collapse. We must realise that votes won without peace are victories built on sand. More dangerously, as Northern youth watch politicians prioritize politicking over their pain, extremist groups may continue to fill the vacuum. They will offer not just ideology, but a warped sense of protection and belonging.

In the final analysis, politicians, especially the presidential aspirants, must look to reclaim leadership with moral clarity. The North is not merely a political stronghold. The North is the soul of the Nigerian federation. It deserves more than handshakes and helicopter landings. It deserves leadership rooted in empathy, guided by courage, and accountable to results. The next wave of presidential hopefuls must not seek votes in the North without first seeking to restore its peace. History will not remember who got the endorsement of which emirs or governors. But it will remember who made the safety and dignity of ordinary Northerners a sacred national mission.

Written by Collins Nweke from Europe