Recent news coming out of Kaduna regarding the leadership crisis in the ACF has been unsettling. The ACF is one of Nigeria’s foremost socio-cultural organisations. It was established about two and a half decades ago with the singular objective of promoting the unity and development of the northern region. It was against this backdrop that the ACF maintains its headquarters in Kaduna, the capital of the defunct Northern Region. Being in Kaduna represents a symbolic preparedness by the ACF to uphold and promote the vision of the region’s founding fathers: the Sardauna, Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Kashim Ibrahim, Aminu Kano, Joseph Tarka, etc.

Kaduna, as host of the ACF, means many things to many people: the hotbed of northern politics; the enclave of retired northern generals; and home of the faceless “Kaduna mafia,” a powerful club of Nigeria’s political wheeler-dealers in the 70s and 80s. There was also the New Nigerian newspaper house in Kaduna that shaped not only the political opinion of the North but also that of the nation at large. Its editorial position literally constituted a policy blueprint of sorts. With the demise of the prominent personalities and institutions behind the northern vision in the twilight of the 20th century, many saw the emergence of the ACF as their collective reincarnation. However, with recent developments, it could just be a misplaced hope.

Established in 2001 by eminent northerners that included General Yakubu Gowon, Sultan Maccido of Sokoto, the Shehu of Borno, the Emir of Ilorin, elder statesmen Abdulrahman Okene, Sule Katagum, Sunday Awoniyi, Jerry Useni, MD Yusuf, Maitama Sule, Saraki (snr), among others, the ACF emerged as an amalgam of three prior northern sociocultural groups: the Turaki Committee under Shagari, the Northern Elders Committee led by Okene, and the Unity and Development Foundation under Sule Katagum. The trio were involved in finding solutions to the perennial crises manifesting across various parts of the region at the time, including Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Kaduna, Bauchi, etc. The ACF subsumed the three with a view to engendering greater impact.

Some of the broad objectives of the Forum include:

To coordinate efforts to build trust, unity, and stronger relationships among the peoples of Northern Nigeria and the nation at large.

To establish linkages with political and community leaders to harmonise efforts aimed at addressing the peculiar challenges facing Northern Nigeria and the country as a whole.

To liaise and cooperate with relevant local, national, and international organisations and agencies that can advance the attainment of the Forum’s objectives.

To establish and develop relationships with organisations that share similar aims, objectives, and aspirations.

To promptly coordinate efforts aimed at building bridges, fostering confidence, and strengthening relationships among the peoples of Northern Nigeria in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

To examine and deliberate on matters that can promote peaceful coexistence in Northern Nigeria in particular, and Nigeria in general.

To promote education and the socioeconomic development of the people of the North, among others.

To liaise and cooperate with relevant local, national, and international organisations and agencies that can advance the attainment of the Forum’s objectives.

In all, the ACF is out to foster unity, mutual trust, and cooperation among the peoples of Northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole; it collaborates to address regional and national challenges. Thus, today the ACF remains Nigeria’s most authentic pan-cultural organisation, operating far beyond the boundaries of any single ethnic formation. While many socio-cultural groups primarily represent specific ethnic interests, the ACF stands as a federation of diversity, accommodating the multiplicity of peoples, cultures, and interests across Northern Nigeria.

Its administrative structure is layered in such a way as to reflect the diversity of the region and also promote its unity. It therefore has a permanent Committee of Patrons, made up of all former Nigerian heads of state alive (Gowon, Babangida, Abdulsalami); a Board of Trustees (BOT); a National Executive Council (NEC); a General Assembly; an Executive Secretary, who serves as administrative head; state chapters; and various standing committees.

After its formation, the ACF hit the ground running. It responded to the killings of Northerners in the South-West by cultural organisations such as the OPC. The ACF also undertook peace missions to mediate in the ethno-religious and communal conflicts in Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Bauchi, and Taraba states, as well as in Kaduna State earlier on.

Outside the sphere of peace missions, the ACF was actively involved in several national dialogues. On behalf of the North, the Forum participated in the Oputa Panel, the 1999 Constitution Review Conference, and the National Political Reform Conference. Through these engagements, the ACF was able to formulate, articulate, defend, and promote the interests of the North effectively.

The Forum also mobilised the region to turn out en masse for both voter registration and national identity registration exercises. To its credit, the ACF equally played a significant role in frustrating Obasanjo’s attempt to secure a third term in office through a self-serving constitutional amendment. Ironically, the issue of tenure is alleged to be part of the issues currently tearing the organisation apart.

During the Buhari administration it engaged the government in the search for solutions to the problems of terrorism and insurgency in various parts of the North. It suggested a way out of the herders-and-farmers clash in the Middle Belt. It also engaged various governments in the fight against poverty and deprivation across the land and recently contributed to the formulation of the North’s position on the current government’s agriculture and tax policies.

Although it has not been a smooth ride, the ACF was able to command respect and visibility among a broad spectrum of Nigerians. Apart from the high calibre of personalities behind the Forum, its activities have elicited confidence among the majority of the peoples of the region. At a stage, various aspirants to the national leadership took turns seeking the “endorsement” of the organisation to enhance their prospects.

It was probably against the backdrop of the Forum’s modest achievements over the years that it marked its Silver Jubilee with pride in early 2026. It developed and presented its roadmap to Nigerians in general, which will guide its operations for the subsequent 25 years and beyond, in a commemorative book titled The ACF at 25: The Journey So Far. It also proposed building a conducive headquarters and embarking on empowerment programmes and policies for the youth and most vulnerable in the region in collaboration with the various tiers of government.

Other future plans include forging a working cooperation with other northern civil society organisations (CSOs) like the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Arewa Cohesion for Peace, Unity and Development (ACPUD), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), CAN, JNI, the Dangote Foundation, TY Danjuma Foundation, Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, etc., for the good of the region and the nation at large. It was in view of such laudable initiatives of the ACF that the related fundraiser garnered “roughly” billion naira (N10 billion) in pledges and cash. Dangote, with N2.5 billion; AbdulSamad of BUA, N2.5 billion; TY Danjuma, N1 billion; Yari, N1 billion; etc., led the pack.

Barely three months after the event, the ACF got entangled in a factional power struggle that pitched its BOT members against the NEC, with part of the root cause being accountability challenges — a cankerworm that has literally become “a Nigerian thing.” How could one really explain a CSO like the ACF, which has been at the forefront of advocacy for good governance, unity, peace, and accountability, finding itself in turmoil? This is really a bad omen for the region in more ways than one.

The ongoing verbal conflict and leadership crisis in the ACF have literally become a new layer in the various “wars” across the geographic North, which have afflicted sixteen (16) states out of the nineteen (19), including the FCT. Insecurity in various areas has grounded economic activities and threatened the safety of lives and property.

The development has equally deepened the distrust among parts of the North that the ACF, in its later years, has not been inclusive enough. Some accuse it of being hijacked and used to promote the narrow interests of the feudal North, or better still, the Muslim North. Yet others believe it has been under the partisan hegemony of certain political blocs. It was at the point of weathering this storm and the gathering electoral clouds of 2027 that the tussle burst into the open, thereby casting a dark shadow on its integrity and future material support.

The way forward is to appeal to the conscience of the warring parties to sheathe their swords in both their individual interests/honour, and that of the region at large. Most of them are looked upon as role models, given their pedigree in public service and business. Above all, none of the major dramatis personae namely Mamman Mike Osuman, SAN, (NEC, Chair), Murtala Aliyu, Matawallen Gombe (Secretary General), Bashir Dalhatu, Wazirin Dutse (BOT, Chair) and General Haliru Akilu (rtd), among others, is outside the sexagenarian and septuagenarian age brackets. They should ordinarily serve as interlocutors in national crisis situations.

The North is already in bad shape politically, socially, and economically. The region cannot afford the luxury of tearing itself apart further. Religious insurgency, armed terrorism by herdsmen, and ethno-religious crises have already done enough damage, especially against the backdrop of the fact that over three million individuals have been displaced from their homes, tens of thousands needlessly killed, and agriculture — the mainstay of the economy — decimated by fifty percent (50%), thereby creating armies of the poor and desperate in its wake.

The living patrons of the ACF — Gowon, IBB, Abdulsalami — plus the traditional rulers, should intervene to broker peace. Thereafter, the alleged issues of corruption and other misdemeanours should be looked into by the appropriate authorities for justice to be done. The abuse of public trust must be stopped.

In the final analysis, the crisis in the ACF is far bigger than a mere organisational dispute; it is a test of the North’s collective maturity, sincerity of purpose, and capacity for self-correction. An institution that was built to unite, guide, and defend the interests of the region must not be allowed to degenerate into a theatre of personal ambitions, factional supremacy, and public recrimination. If the ACF loses its moral authority, the North risks losing one of the few remaining platforms capable of mobilising consensus across ethnic, religious, and political divides.

History is watching. The younger generation is watching. Millions of ordinary northerners battling poverty, insecurity, displacement, and hopelessness are watching. At a time when the region is bleeding from terrorism, banditry, economic collapse, illiteracy, and deepening social fragmentation, its elite cannot afford the dangerous luxury of internal warfare. The North needs healing, direction, sacrifice, and visionary leadership — not another cycle of destructive power tussles.

The founding fathers of the region built institutions, not personal empires. They subordinated individual ambitions to collective survival and regional advancement. That same spirit must now prevail within the ACF.

The Forum must rise above ego, purge itself of impunity, restore internal trust, and return to the ideals upon which it was founded: unity, justice, accountability, and service to the people. It should also place higher premium on strategy than history. Anything short of that would amount to a tragic betrayal of both history and posterity.
A.G. Abubakar
agbarewa@gmail.com