Public commentator Mahdi Shehu has delivered a scathing assessment of the North, describing the region as a “land of the living dead” plagued by fear, trauma, and leadership failure.
In a post on his official X handle on Saturday, Shehu painted a bleak picture of a population that is physically alive but spiritually and socially paralysed, unable to confront mounting insecurity and hardship.
“The current inhabitants of Northern Nigeria are alive but dead,” he declared, adding that residents have become traumatised, fearful, and passive in the face of reality.
Shehu blamed compromised elites, weak traditional institutions, and docile citizens for the region’s decline, saying they have been reduced to a “spineless, visionless, planless” laughing stock amid envy, hate, greed, and man’s inhumanity to man.
In a striking metaphor, he concluded: “RIP NORTHERN NIGERIA. Imams and priests are not available for burial because most of them are standing on a mandate.”
The strong remarks have sparked discussions about the deep socio-political and security challenges facing Northern Nigeria.
