Nigeria, North’s Prosperity Inseparable, Says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu yesterday declared that Nigeria’s prosperity is inseparable from the aboriginal of Northern Nigeria.

Represented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, astatine the Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS) 2025 successful Abuja, organised nether the enactment of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Tinubu said his medication is embarking connected captious industrialisation projects focused connected the region.

He commended NEF’s determination to alteration the communicative and reposition Northern Nigeria arsenic an innovation and concern hub.

The summit’s theme, “Unlocking Northern Nigeria’s Mining, Agricultural and Power Potentials (MAP2035),” outlines a 10-year blueprint for transforming the region’s economy.

Tinubu said, “The aboriginal of Nigeria’s prosperity is inseparable from that of Northern Nigeria. If we unlock the North’s minerals, we unafraid a caller epoch of concern competitiveness. If we unlock the North’s agriculture, we warrant nutrient information and export leadership. If we unlock the North’s power, we ignite a question of industrialisation employing millions of Nigerians.

“The North is not conscionable a portion of the country; it is the country’s engine. Let america prehend this infinitesimal unneurotic to alteration Northern Nigeria into the powerhouse of Nigeria’s prosperity.”

He highlighted cardinal reforms successful mining, agriculture, and power, stressing that these sectors stay the backbone of Nigeria’s economy.

According to him, Nigeria recorded GDP maturation of 4.23% successful the 2nd 4th of 2025, the strongest successful a decennary extracurricular the COVID rebound period, driven by robust industry, agriculture, and services growth. He added that ostentation has begun to ease, overseas reserves person risen, and the Naira has stabilised, attributing the advancement to deliberate reforms nether his Renewed Hope Agenda.

In his remarks, the acme convener, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, represented by Air Marshal Al’amin Daggash (rtd), stated that the North was erstwhile sustained by agriculture and a beardown obstruction web that drove exports.

He stressed that the region, with 75 per cent of Nigeria’s arable onshore and implicit 44 coagulated minerals, could lone execute its afloat worth done modern infrastructure successful power, rail, roads, and storage.

He said Northern Nigeria has abundant mineral wealth, fertile land, and vibrant quality capital. Still, without modern infrastructure similar railways, roads, power, and storage, the afloat worth of those resources cannot beryllium realised.

Government policies indispensable present meaningful impacts by demonstrating a deliberate committedness to the mining assemblage and its related services.

He said, “We are location to implicit 160 cardinal people, including astir 90 cardinal youths, Nigeria’s largest demographic bloc. We clasp 75% of Nigeria’s arable land, making america the nation’s nutrient basket.

“We are richly endowed with implicit 44 coagulated minerals, including gold, lithium, uranium, coal, oil, and gas. Harnessing these resources concerns determination growth, nationalist stability, industrialisation and planetary competitiveness.”

Additionally, the politician of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, urged bluish leaders to determination beyond rhetoric and follow collaborative action.

He outlined 3 priorities: security, harmonised concern policies, and powerfulness infrastructure.

He further projected a Northern Nigerian Economic Compact to spot the 19 states talk with 1 voice, found a azygous concern window, and co-invest successful captious infrastructure specified arsenic rail, power, and fibre optics.

Lawal said, “As leaders crossed the 19 Northern States, we indispensable deepen our collaboration beyond politics. We indispensable integrate our information architectures, stock quality successful real-time, and foster greater assemblage policing to make a unafraid and predictable environment. A harmless North is simply a bankable North.

“Secondly, we indispensable harmonise and simplify our policies. The existent landscape, wherever concern policies and regulatory frameworks disagree and sometimes struggle from 1 authorities to another, creates disorder and discourages large-scale, determination investment. We indispensable enactment towards a ‘One-North’ Investment Policy.

“This would see harmonised onshore administration, streamlined approvals for mining and agriculture, and azygous taxation incentives for strategical sectors. By presenting a united, predictable, and business-friendly front, we go a much charismatic destination than immoderate authorities could beryllium if it were alone.

“In enactment with the above, I suggest that the Northern States Governors Forum represent a committee of our authorities concern promotion agencies to draught a unified concern argumentation and regulatory model which volition beryllium submitted to the NSGF secretariat f...