A N200 Billion Trust Fund Without Governance Reform Is Another Northern Jamboree

A N200 Billion Trust Fund Without Governance Reform Is Another Northern Jamboree

By MS Abubakar, PhD, CAS

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has just spearheaded the launch of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund. It will be chaired by Gen. Martin Luther Agwai rtd, with Alhaji Yayale Ahmad as a principal figure. The Fund is projected to mobilize about N200 billion in the long run for security interventions across the 19 Northern states.

On paper it sounds patriotic. In reality, I fear it is another expensive jamboree — heavy on ceremony, light on the root causes.

1. You cannot buy your way out of bad governance

Money was never the missing ingredient. The missing ingredient is accountability.

Insecurity in Northern Nigeria is not primarily a hardware problem. It is a governance problem. The drivers are not mysterious:

– Bad governance and exclusion: Political primaries across parties were hijacked. Candidates the people wanted were stepped down so godfathers could impose favorites. When citizens feel the system is rigged at the ballot, they lose faith in the state.

– Unemployment and poverty: The North still leads national poverty figures. According to the NBS 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index, 63% of persons in Nigeria are multidimensionally poor. 72% of those poor people live in the North.

– Illiteracy and low HDI: The UNDP Human Development Report consistently ranks several Northern states at the bottom of education and health indices. Over 10.2 million out-of-school children are in Nigeria, with the majority in Northern states according to UBEC/UNICEF data.

-Extremism thrives where the state is absent: That absence starts at the local government.

2. The Local Government is Dead. That is where insecurity is born

Take a walk into any LGA secretariat in the North today. You will find empty classrooms, locked PHCs, non-functional police posts, and abattoirs overrun by weeds.

The 1999 Constitution gave LGAs autonomy for a reason: they are the closest government to the people. In practice in Northern Nigeria, they are appendages of the Governor’s office. Chairmen are installed, not elected. Allocations are diverted.

Result: No government presence. No teachers. No nurses. No jobs. And into that vacuum walk bandits, kidnappers, and recruiters of extremist groups with cash and promises.

You do not need N200 billion to fix this. You need political will to allow LGAs to work.

3. Kinetic response without stabilization is a loop

I agree with the military doctrine: Suppress, Stabilize, Consolidate. Yes, we must first suppress the enemy. But what happens after the troops leave?

If we return children to the same dilapidated school, patients to the same clinic without drugs, and youth to the same unemployment line, we are simply preparing the next recruitment pool for criminals.

A Trust Fund focused mainly on vehicles, drones, and allowances for security agencies is a kinetic approach. It treats the symptom. It does not treat the disease.

4. The data is already telling us what to do

If Governors want to reduce insecurity, they already have the roadmap:

1. UNDP Human Development Index: Improve life expectancy, education, and income. States that invest in HDI see direct drops in violence.

2. UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 2 – Zero Hunger, SDG 4 – Quality Education, SDG 8 – Decent Work. These are not slogans. They are security policy.

3. Global Terrorism Index: Countries and regions that improve governance and social inclusion consistently record better scores the following year.

The North does not need another fundraising launch. It needs governors to spend existing FAAC and IGR on the basics: functioning schools, working clinics, rural roads, and jobs.

Imagine if the 19 governors collectively decided that within 24 months, no child in their state will be on the street as an Almajiri without access to Tsangaya + formal education. Imagine if every LGA had a functional primary health center. The security savings alone would dwarf N200 billion.

5. The politics of exclusion

I am also concerned about how this process was constituted. A project of this magnitude sidelining experienced voices like Lt. Gen. T.Y. Buratai rtd raises questions. Borno chose to field Prof. Babagana Zulum’s representative instead. That is their prerogative. But perception matters.

When a security initiative looks like a club of the politically connected, citizens will not trust it. And without public trust, no Trust Fund will work.

CONCLUSION: Spend political capital, not just money

Some governors have jokingly told associates they “have so much money they don’t know what to do with it.” If that is true, then the problem is not funding. It is priorities.

Here is what can be done in the short term without waiting for N200 billion:

1. Conduct free and fair LGA elections and grant financial autonomy.

2. Eradicate street begging and Almajiri exploitation through education and skills programs.

3. Publish LGA allocation and project data monthly for public audit.

4. Align state budgets to HDI and SDGs and measure governors by those metrics.

If we do that, data will vindicate us. The World Terrorism Index will give us a better score next year. If we don’t, the Trust Fund will be remembered like many before it: big launch, big board, big money, zero impact.

The North does not need more jamborees. The North needs working governance.

God bless Northern Nigeria. God bless Nigeria.

A N200 Billion Trust Fund Without Governance Reform Is Another Northern Jamboree