by Mohammed Bello Doka
You can be in APC, you can be an APC data boy, but that does not mean you should not have sense. Assuming we concede that you do not have sense, what makes you think we do not have sense also? This is the question that should echo in the ears of every Arewa youth who has chosen to remain silent while their leaders engage in the most elaborate political deception of our time.
For months now, the Arewa Youth Assembly has been crying out, pointing fingers at Seyi Tinubu, accusing him of marginalizing Northern youths, of hijacking youth mobilization structures, of running a parallel network that sidelines the North. They have issued ultimatums, threatened protests, and made enough noise to convince the public that the son of the President is the architect of their suffering.
But let us pause and ask a question that nobody in the Arewa leadership dares to ask: Does Seyi Tinubu sign appointment letters? Does he hold a constitutional office? Does he sit in the Presidency and approve nominations? The answer is a resounding no. Seyi Tinubu is not the National Youth Leader. He is not the Minister of Youth. He is not the Special Adviser or Senior Special Assistant to the President on any youth-related matter. He holds no official position whatsoever.
So why are the Arewa youths screaming at him instead of looking at the man who actually wields the pen?
The answer is painful but simple: cowardice. It is easier to attack the prince than to confront the king. It is safer to beat the drum at the son’s gate than to knock on the father’s door. The Arewa youth leaders know the truth. They know that Seyi Tinubu did not appoint Dayo Israel as National Youth Leader. They know he did not appoint Titilope Gbadamosi as Senior Special Assistant on Youth Initiatives. They know he did not appoint Sunday Asefon as Senior Special Assistant on Students Affairs. They know he did not appoint Ayodele Olawande as Minister of Youth Development. And they know he did not install Lucky Emonefe as NANS President or Comrade Okorie C. Okorie as NYO National President.
All of these appointments came from one man: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Yet the Arewa youths lack the guts to say his name. Instead, they manufacture a fictional enemy in Seyi Tinubu and wage a proxy war that fools nobody except those who choose to be fooled. This is not activism. This is deflection. This is theatrical protest designed to mislead the public while protecting the real culprit.
Now let us look at the facts that the Arewa Youth Assembly knows but refuses to state publicly. Here is the current youth leadership structure in this administration:
Dayo Israel is the APC National Youth Leader. He is from the South-West. Comrade Okorie C. Okorie is the NYO National President. He is from the South-East. Titilope Gbadamosi is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives. She is from the South-West. Sunday Asefon is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Affairs. He is from the South-West. Ayodele Olawande is the Minister of Youth Development. He is from the South-West. Lucky Emonefe is the NANS President. He is from the South-South.
That is six positions, six Southerners, zero Northerners. Zero. Not one youth leader from the nineteen Northern states holds a single position of consequence in the youth architecture of this government. The Arewa youths have been completely locked out, and they know it. They know it was not a mistake. They know it was the design. But they lack the courage to say who designed it.
Let us be honest about what this means. The North has been given nothing while the South has been given everything. The Northern youth have been completely locked out of every position of consequence while their Southern counterparts occupy every single seat at the table. That is not inclusion. That is structural humiliation disguised as representation.
The Arewa Youth Assembly knows the truth. They know that their fight with Seyi Tinubu is a staged drama designed to divert attention from the real issue. They know that the marginalization of Northern youths was not an oversight but a deliberate calculation. They know that the man who gave the last command is the same man they are too afraid to criticize. They know that every crime, every flaw, every failure is blamed on someone else except the one who signs the papers. And they know that this hypocrisy is an insult to the intelligence of every Northern youth watching from the sidelines.
But here is the question that the Arewa Youth Assembly must answer: Who are you trying to fool? Are you fooling the public or are you fooling yourselves? Because the public is watching. The public sees that six youth positions are occupied by Southerners while the North holds none. The public sees that you are crying at the wrong gate while the real architect sits comfortably in the Presidency and laughs at your theatrics.
And let us speak the even bitterer truth that nobody wants to say: Arewa youth have no place in APC. Tell yourself the truth and stop deceiving your people. If today you are struggling and fighting to be recognized in a structure that is still campaigning and seeking votes, what will be your future when the government eventually returns to power and no longer needs you? When the election is over, when the votes have been counted, when the Southern strategists have packed their bags and moved on to the next political project, where will the Arewa youth be? Nowhere. You are being used as a tool for mobilization, a machine for votes, a crowd for rallies. The moment you are no longer useful, you will be discarded like yesterday’s newspaper.
Arewa youth must resist any attempt to shield Tinubu as the architect of the marginalization of the North. They must hold everyone accountable. They must hold the Arewa Youth Assembly accountable for their cowardly deflection. They must hold the Northern governors accountable for their silence while their region is systematically stripped of youth representation. They must hold the Northern senators accountable for watching their brothers and sisters locked out of every youth position and saying nothing. They must hold the Northern ministers accountable for sitting in the same cabinet with Ayodele Olawande while knowing that their own children have no place in this administration. Every single one of them is complicit in this marginalization because every single one of them has kept quiet.
It is time for the Arewa youths in APC to tell themselves the bitter truth. You are not marginalized by Seyi Tinubu. You are marginalized by the man who holds the pen. You are not ignored by a prince who has no power. You are ignored by a President who has all the power. And until you muster the courage to look past the son and stare directly at the throne, you will keep suffering in silence while your leaders play the fool and the public watches in disbelief.
The Arewa youth leaders know who appointed every person on that list. They know who filled every youth slot with Southerners. They know that the marginalization was intentional, calculated, and designed. They know that Seyi Tinubu is just a convenient scapegoat. They know that attacking the President directly would cost them their seats, their allowances, and their access. They know that their protest is cowardice dressed up as activism.
And here is the final truth that Arewa youth must accept: APC was not designed for you. Look at the evidence. Look at the appointments. Look at the structures. Look at the power dynamics. You are expected to bring the votes, to mobilize the crowds, to sacrifice your sons and daughters on the altar of Southern political ambition. And in return, you are expected to continue to suffer under insecurity, hunger, and poverty that has been designed for you. Your children will keep dying in the farms because of banditry. Your mothers will keep queuing for food. Your young men will keep leaving the North in search of survival. And the Southern strategists will keep sitting in their Lagos mansions, counting the votes you delivered, and laughing at your naivety.
That is the bitter truth. That is the design. That is the reality that Arewa youth leaders refuse to say because they are too comfortable with their allowances and their access. But you, the ordinary Arewa youth who has no seat, no appointment, no access, you must tell yourself the truth. You have no place in APC. The earlier you accept that reality, the better. There is only one option: look elsewhere. Look for a political home that actually values you, that respects you, that does not see you only as a vote machine. APC was not designed for you. It was designed by Southerners for Southerners, and you were invited only to make up the numbers.
The bitter truth is that Arewa youths have been sold a lie, and they are buying it wholesale. The bitter truth is that their leaders are playing politics with their future while pretending to fight for their rights. The bitter truth is that the marginalization is real, but the target is wrong, and every day they spend shouting at Seyi Tinubu is another day the real architect escapes scrutiny.
So to the Arewa Youth Assembly, to every Arewa youth in APC, to every Northern leader who claims to be fighting for representation, this is your moment of reckoning. Do you have the courage to speak the truth or will you continue to live the lie? Do you have the guts to name the man who actually signed those appointment letters or will you keep beating the drum at the prince’s gate? The world is watching. The Northern youth are watching. And the bitter truth will not remain hidden forever.
You can be in APC, you can be an APC data boy, but that does not mean you should not have sense. Assuming we concede that you do not have sense, what makes you think we do not have sense also?
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via bellodoka82@gmail.com
