Hakeem Baba-Ahmed: between politics of division and entitlement, by Bunmi Awoyemi
Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, ex-spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has built a reputation not on unifying rhetoric or visionary politics but on a consistent habit of playing with fire.
His most recent comments—suggesting that Nigeria could face a breakup in 2027 if elections don’t meet his idea of “credibility”—are neither shocking nor original. They are simply the latest chapter in a career built on weaponizing ethnicity, peddling political entitlement, and speaking for a North he imagines as eternally destined to rule.
Let’s not mince words. This isn’t principled advocacy. It’s the politics of intimidation. And Nigeria has seen enough of it.
In April 2025, just weeks after his quiet exit from the presidency, where he served as a political adviser in the office of the Vice President, Baba-Ahmed emerged in full form. He warned that if Nigerians do not get “credible elections,” there would be consequences in 2027. The implication? If the north doesn’t win, the country may burn.
This is not the first time he’s issued such threats under the guise of political commentary. In 2021, he said without hesitation: “We will lead Nigeria the way we have led Nigeria before. Whether we are president or vice-president, we will lead Nigeria… Why should we accept a second-class position when we know we can buy a form and contest for first class and we will win?”
To Baba-Ahmed, leadership isn’t earned—it’s inherited. It’s owed. And any attempt by the South to claim a turn at the presidency is met with scorn, framed as an assault on the “rights” of northerners.
But here’s the truth: the North, like any other region, has every right to contest. What it does not have is the right to threaten the country every time the electoral tide doesn’t favor its preferred outcome.
The Illusion of Northern Monopoly
Baba-Ahmed speaks of the North as if it were one voice, one vote, one mind. But Nigeria’s North is not monolithic. Its political diversity is well documented. Buhari himself failed in three consecutive presidential bids despite northern support—until a coalition with the Southwest finally pushed him to victory in 2015 and then subsequently in 2019.
This idea that the North alone decides Nigeria’s future is not only historically inaccurate, it’s politically dangerous. It undermines the very principles of democracy Baba-Ahmed claims to defend.
He rails against zoning and rotation, calling them “retrogressive” and “anti-democratic,” yet fails to recognize that Nigeria’s fragile unity is held together by the practice of inclusion and balance. Power-sharing, though imperfect, is one of the few mechanisms preventing this country from fracturing further along ethnic and regional lines.
A Pattern of Division
Time and again, Baba-Ahmed positions himself as a voice for the North. But his words don’t unify—they divide. In 2022, he criticized calls from the South and Middle Belt leaders for presidential zoning, framing them as attempts to subvert democracy and intimidate northerners. In truth, it is Baba-Ahmed and his ilk who are doing the intimidating—casting the South as a political afterthought, useful only when convenient.
Even more telling is how he presents himself as the custodian of northern interests while reducing southern Nigerians to political agitators. His narrative strips the South of agency and legitimacy, presenting its leaders as unserious, its voters as irrelevant, and its demands as threats.
The Mauritania Distraction
Some have pointed to his family’s roots in Mauritania as evidence of his detachment from the Nigerian experience. While it is true that his father migrated from Mauritania and settled in Zaria in the early 20th century, that fact alone does not disqualify him from national discourse. What it does highlight, however, is the irony: someone whose lineage reflects migration and adaptation now speaks with the finality of ownership, as if Nigeria is his personal inheritance.
Lasisi Olagunju’s 2021 column in the Nigerian Tribune reminded us that Mauritania, the last country on earth to officially abolish slavery (in 1981), still grapples with caste systems and racial subjugation. While Baba-Ahmed should not be judged by the failures of another state, it is chilling how comfortably he frames the South as subordinate to the political will of his preferred power bloc. That comfort—speaking as if others are second-class citizens—is not incidental. It’s learned. And it’s dangerous.
Nigeria Is Not Owned
Let’s make this plain: Hakeem Baba-Ahmed does not speak for all Northerners. He speaks for a class of elite politicians—many of whom have lost touch with the daily realities of poverty, insecurity, and broken infrastructure in both the North and South. His rhetoric is not about building a better Nigeria; it’s about keeping power at all costs.
And while his voice may resonate with some, it is not the future. The future belongs to those who can speak across tribal lines, build across regions, and lead with respect—not threats.
The South will not be bullied. The idea that Nigeria can only function when one region dominates is an insult to every citizen who believes in fairness and progress. Leadership must rotate—not as a favor, but as a necessity for national survival.
We’ve seen what happens when power becomes the end rather than the means: elections rigged, institutions weakened, and the country drifting toward disintegration. Baba-Ahmed’s statements are not warnings. They are provocations. And they must be called out as such.
Final Word
If Nigeria burns, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and his peers will likely retreat to safer ground. He has options—family homes in Mauritania, elite circles, and diplomatic exits. But millions of Nigerians do not. They will bear the brunt of the divisions he stirs.
Enough. This country has bled too much for too long to continue tolerating political arsonists parading as elder statesmen.
Nigeria does not belong to the North, the South, or any individual. It belongs to all of us—or it belongs to no one.
–Awoyemi is a Real Estate Developer.
