Atiku and the Northern Companies: Why Nigeria Cannot Go Backward, By Fattykolly Ibn Alimi

An Arewa Voice Asks: “Where Are The Companies You Collapsed?”

A video is trending from the North. Not a politician. Not a party spokesperson. Just an angry Arewa man in a yellow babanriga, speaking directly to camera.

His message was simple and devastating:
“If Nigeria were divided today, poverty would kpai people in the North.” And then he asked the question no one in the opposition wants to answer.

THE LIST THAT SHAMES A GENERATION
The man didn’t shout slogans. He listed names. Dates. Places. Over 44 companies.

“I’m asking Atiku. I’m asking El-Rufai. I’m asking Obasanjo. Where are those companies?”

He went down the list:

• Nigerian Paper Mills, Kwara – Collapsed 2005
• Lafiagi Sugar Company, Kwara – Collapsed 2005
• Nigerian Bottling Company, Kano/Kaduna/Plateau/Borno – Collapsed 2004
• Kaduna Fertilizer Company – Collapsed 2002
• Ariwa Textile Limited – Collapsed 2002
• Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Kaduna – Collapsed 2007
• Super Textile Kano – Collapsed 2004
• Zamfara Textile* – Collapsed 2004
• Sokoto Ceramics – Collapsed 2005
• Bauchi Meat Factory – Collapsed 2003
• Gombe Oil Mill – Collapsed 2004

“I have more than 44 companies in the North that were collapsed. So I’m asking Atiku, I’m asking El-Rufai, where are those companies? Bring them back. And today you want us to vote you? Vote you for where? You go nowhere.”

THE CONTEXT: THEY WERE IN POWER WHEN IT HAPPENED
This is the painful part. The years he mentioned — 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 — were years when Atiku Abubakar was Vice President, El-Rufai was FCT Minister, and PDP held the presidency for 16 years.

They were the ones in charge of the economy, privatization, and policy. And under their watch, the industrial North was stripped bare. Textiles, paper, sugar, auto, fertilizer — all gone.

Now, those same people have regrouped under the ADC. They are touring the North again. Campaigning against President Tinubu. Promising Nigerians a “return to the old days.”

WHY ATIKU DOES NOT DESERVE ANOTHER CHANCE

1. Record Over Rhetoric: You cannot ask for votes with promises when your record is public. The North has nothing to show for the years Atiku and his allies were in power except closed factories and jobless youth.
2. The Subsidy Lie: Now Atiku is promising to “return fuel subsidy.” The same subsidy that bled Nigeria dry, enriched a few, and kept us borrowing. President Tinubu removed it despite the pain because Nigeria was heading for bankruptcy. Returning it now means returning to borrowing, printing money, and economic collapse.
3. No Moral Ground to Criticize Tinubu: Tinubu met an economy with dead industries and no money. In 2 years he’s fighting to restart solid minerals, lithium, agriculture, and local manufacturing. You can debate the pace. But you cannot compare someone building with someone who presided over demolition.

THE AREWA MAN’S FINAL QUESTION
“Where are those companies? Bring them back.”

That is the question every Northerner should ask Atiku, El-Rufai, and the ADC team before 2027.

Don’t tell us about 2027. Tell us about 2005. Tell us about the 44 companies.

Because if Nigeria were divided today as he said, the North would have nothing to stand on. No factories. No jobs. Just poverty.

We cannot afford to go back to the managers of that collapse.

President Tinubu may not be perfect. But he did not collapse those companies. He inherited the ruins. And he is trying to build.

Nigeria does not need a return to subsidy and to the past. Nigeria needs to finish the work of rebuilding.

The North has spoken. The question is: Will we listen?

#Nigeria #Tinubu #Atiku #ADC #NorthernNigeria #Economy #subsidywithdrawal #AtikuAbubakar Abuja Network News