Nigeria: Northern Governors Fund Pilgrimage While Millions Suffer

In the face of a region crippled by poverty, insecurity, crumbling infrastructure, and a staggering number of out-of-school children, Northern Nigeria's governors have once again chosen politics over people, optics over impact, and religious showmanship over Islamic values.

Across the region, thousands of sycophants, political cronies, friends, and relatives of those in power are in the Holy Land -- all at the expense of the public purse.

These lavish pilgrimages, marketed as acts of piety, are in reality taxpayer-funded jamborees that mock the very faith they claim to honour.

Meanwhile, the soul of the North is bleeding.

In states where these governors rule, millions of children roam the streets as almajirai or dropouts, unable to access basic education. Public schools are in ruins -- without roofs, furniture, or qualified teachers. Hospitals are starved of drugs and equipment, leaving the sick to die of curable diseases. Widows and orphans, the very people Islam commands us to care for, are left to beg for survival. And insecurity continues to spread like wildfire, with no serious investment in community safety or youth empowerment.

This is not Islam. This is a betrayal.

Islam teaches responsibility, justice, compassion, and the wise use of public trust.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) never sent his friends or relatives to Hajj with taxpayers money or at the cost of neglecting the needy. Yet, our leaders do exactly that -- spending billions on the spiritual tourism of the privileged, while ignoring the desperate cries of the weak and voiceless.

What kind of Islam funds luxury trips in the name of religion while children sit under trees to learn....What kind of governance prioritizes photo-ops in Mecca over feeding the hungry in Kano or schooling the girl in Gusau....

This is not governance. It is a mockery of both leadership and religion -- a tragic case of Muslims without Islam.

It is time Northern governors are reminded that the true pilgrimage is not one that begins at the airport, but the one that starts with justice, ends with equity, and is guided by service. The people deserve better. Islam demands better.

Tukur Faru is with the The New North.

Read the original article on Daily Trust.