Mahdi Shehu Criticizes ACF for Focusing on Vanity While the North Faces Decline

Table of Contents

1. Criticism of Arewa Consultative Forum
2. Anniversary Celebration
3. Composition of the Group
4. Benefits and Neglect
5. Double Standards
6. Lack of Community Support
7. Fundraising Efforts
8. Symbol of Challenges

Activist and public commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has criticized the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), accusing its members of celebrating wealth and personal comfort while neglecting the deteriorating conditions in Northern Nigeria.

In a post on X on Saturday, Shehu referred to the ACF’s 25th anniversary as a celebration of vanity and opulence, asserting that the group has failed to make a meaningful contribution to the development of the region.

Shehu contended that ACF members are neither elected nor appointed representatives; instead, they form a lobby group comprised of individuals seeking to maintain relevance after exhausting their opportunities in public service.

He noted that many in the group benefited from free education funded by the efforts and resources of northern villagers but chose personal gain over community service.

He claimed that although they enjoyed government-funded training and ascended to prominent positions in public and security services, their plans were solely focused on themselves and their families.

“Regrettably, over 80% of them planned only for their own interests and those of their immediate family, forgetting their humble beginnings. Instead of reciprocating the support that helped them achieve success, they chose to exploit the North, amassing significant power and wealth while contributing to the deterioration of the very North they were meant to protect,” he stated.

Shehu argued that the North's decline occurred with their active involvement, attributing it to years of greed, neglect, and divisive politics.

He remarked that the North has been destroyed, fragmented, and factionalized along ethnic, tribal, and religious lines right before their eyes.

He added that mistrust and animosity now prevail in the region.

Shehu also accused many ACF members of exhibiting double standards.

“When they are among their fellow Northerners, they criticize every government and insult its leaders, but in public, they praise those in power,” he wrote.

He further alleged that 90 percent of ACF members have no visible investments in the North, despite having accumulated considerable wealth, with many opting to invest in cities like Lagos and Abuja or even abroad.

Shehu criticized their lack of support for failing schools, poor roads, and inadequate health facilities in their home states, stating that they have abandoned the communities that once supported them.

He expressed that they are indifferent because they frequently fly home and maintain close ties with every government in power for personal gain.

In response to the group’s ongoing initiative to raise N100 billion, Shehu dismissed the effort as heartless and hypocritical, asserting that many individuals present at the event are worth far more than the target they were asking the public to contribute.

For him and many others, Shehu stated that the ACF has become a representation of the challenges facing the region.

He characterized the group’s anniversary as a routine commemoration of death, disease, destitution, delay, decay, and the decimation of the North.