The Gamji Heritage Association has blamed some Northern leaders for the under-development of the area since the death of the late Premier of the defunct Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello.

The association’s national president, Ahmed Abdullahi, stated this in Kaduna at the Sir Ahmadu Bello Annual Memorial Conference.

“This was caused by a near total betrayal of the North by no one other than the North itself,” he said.

He argued that since Ahmadu Bello’s death, there were few achievements in the region compared to others.

“Where are the Northern industries, Bank of the North, academic institutions, agricultural and livestock industries?” Mr Abdullahi stated.

Mr Abdullahi noted that the North has potential for development.

“But it is thrown into chaos, killings and kidnapping, with intra-ethnic and religious conflicts. The late Sir Ahmadu Bello built a united and prosperous Northern region with no discrimination against each other.

“It’s sad indeed,  some leaders after the Sardauna betrayed us by underdeveloping the states and injecting poverty, promoting killings and hunger,” Mr Abdullahi added.

He, however, said Gamji Heritage, as a Sardauna legacy, would embark on advocacy for the restoration of the Sir Ahmadu Bello development agenda to salvage the North from collapse.

The director-general of the Centre for Democratic Studies, Development and Training (CEDDERT), Abubakar Siddique-Mohammed, described contemporary Northern Nigeria as an alleged “victim of bad governance.”

He opined that the ongoing insurgency in the North was a deliberate attempt to kill the area by previous and present leaders of the region.

(NAN)