A Northern Ghana advocacy group has called for compensation from the British Government for the three Northern regions. The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy group said the British Government deliberately denied the area of development during its occupation as a colonial power. The three regions comprise the Northern, Upper East and Upper West. A statement issued by the group said there was substantial evidence in many remarks made by officials of the colonial government that pointed to its unwillingness to develop the north. According to the statement, W.J.A. Jones, then Commissioner of the Northern Territories once remarked that, northerners were regarded as amiable but backward people, useful as soldiers, policemen and labourers in the mines and cocoa farms; only fit to be wood hewers and water drawers for their brothers in the colony and Ashanti. The then Governor, F.M Hodgson, said the country’s resources would rather be put into development up to the south of Kintampo, leaving the Northern Territories to be considered in future years. The Governor was quoted as having said that he was not interested in spending a single penny more than was absolutely necessary on the Northern Territories for their suitable administration and the encouragement of the transit trade. Sir Hugh Clifford, another high rank British colonial officer was also quoted to have said emphatically that till the colony and Ashanti were thoroughly opened up and developed, the Northern Territories ought to be content and await their turn. According to the advocacy group, the most serious effect of the neglect on the people of the Northern regions was that while western education started in Southern Ghana in the 16th Century, that of the North came as late as 1901, providing a gap of 300 years. The group said if former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere's statement that education would not only give you a chance to escape poverty but would also fight poverty, was anything to go by, then everyone from the North would have reason to believe that the British were the principal architects and designers of the poverty situation in the North. The advocacy group said as a remedy, the British government on realizing the harm caused to the people of the North promised to develop the area with an amount of 30 million pounds. Regrettably, the first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah rejected the offer and instead demanded immediate independence. He introduced a three-phase Northern Scholarship Scheme to be catered for in the country's annual budget. The statement said with the exception of the award of scholarships to students from the North attending secondary schools to cover boarding and examination fees, as the first phase, the two other phases had been swept under the carpet till date. The group said what was more worrying was that even the Phase One was under serious threat as those not benefiting from the scheme eyed it with envy and great discomfort. The group expressed worry that if care was not taken it would also be done away with any moment from now. The statement said Dr. Nkrumah's three-phase vision as a substitute for the 30 million pounds to correct the imbalances had to a large extent failed. According to the advocacy group, the money was now needed to bridge the yawning socio-economic gap between the North and the South for healthier and balanced growth and development of the country. The group was therefore urging the British government to compensate the three Northern regions as Ghana celebrated Golden Jubilee of independence.