Chairman of the Northern Christian Association, NCA, Rev. John Hayab, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves credit for projects being executed across the North, insisting that the region cannot honestly claim it has not benefited from the administration.
Hayab, however, said the interventions had yet to address some of the North’s most pressing challenges, particularly insecurity, hunger and poverty.
Speaking with Vanguard, the NCA chairman said acknowledging the government’s achievements should not prevent northerners from demanding more from the administration.
He pointed to major road projects across the region, including the Akwanga-Maiduguri, Jos-Jalingo, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari-Mokwa-Lagos and Sokoto-Lagos corridors.
“Look at the roads from Akwanga that will go as far as Maiduguri. Look at the roads from Jos that will go to Jalingo. These are very serious roads,” he said.
Hayab contrasted the projects with the performance of the immediate past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly the Kaduna-Abuja road, which he said remained unfinished despite years of promises.
“Buhari didn’t perform and they are doing better than his. So, why don’t you acknowledge it? Because it’s not for free. Huge money has been invested in those projects.
“Honestly speaking, all the years Buhari was in power, that Kaduna road was supposed to have been finished, but they were playing games around all that. People were losing their lives; they didn’t care. At least these ones are trying,” Hayab said.
He said the improvement was also noticeable on the Abuja-Makurdi route, where better road conditions had significantly reduced travel time, adding that completion of the Mararaba flyover was expected to provide further relief to commuters.
Beyond infrastructure, Hayab said the North had secured significant representation in the Tinubu administration, citing the national chairmanship of the ruling party and key ministerial positions.
“The North is there. The North is the party chairman of his party. The North is the Minister of Information. The North is the Defence Minister. The two Defence Ministers are all from the North,” he said.
Hayab said the same argument applied to Southern Kaduna, where he cited the establishment of a Federal University and a Federal Medical Centre as examples of long-standing demands being addressed under the Tinubu administration.
“For us in Southern Kaduna, we cannot lie that things have not improved,” he said.
He described the Federal Medical Centre as particularly significant, saying residents had demanded such a facility since the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but successive governments failed to deliver it.
“And today, we have it on a platter of gold. And so, we should be able to acknowledge that, at least, things have improved,” he said.
Hayab, however, said recognition of Federal Government interventions should not absolve northern leaders of responsibility.
He urged northerners to scrutinise how resources accruing to their states under the new revenue allocation formula were being utilised, stressing that state governments also had a responsibility to improve the living conditions of their people.
The NCA chairman also clarified that his acknowledgement of the administration’s achievements did not amount to an endorsement of all its policies and actions.
“They want to blame the man in Abuja. When he is bad, we will tell him. But in this case, I think he is right,” he said.
“If I do not praise them just because I don’t like them, then I’m not a good Christian. I don’t believe in that.
“But the North cannot pretend to say that it has not benefited from this government.”
