Abubakar Jiddere, spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum
(NEF), says the north has resolved to embark on an economic regeneration.
He spoke on Tuesday on Channels Television’s ‘Morning
Brief’.
On September 22, Jiddere announced during a press conference
in Abuja, that NEF will host an investment and industrialisation summit in
collaboration with the 19 governors in the north and the New Nigeria
Development Company (NNDC).
He relayed that the summit will be held in Abuja from
September 29-30, 2025.
The spokesperson said the summit has become necessary to
create awareness among the northern governors, local and international
investors, and development partners across the world, on the need for a new
chapter in the development of the region.
Jiddere bemoaned the decline in economic viability of the
north, driven largely by the collapse of industries that once thrived in the
region.
“Right from the colonial era, the north contributed
immensely to the development of Nigeria. Unfortunately, so many challenges
started arising, particularly the problem of insecurity, low investment, and
the collapse of many industries in the north, especially textile and other
manufacturing industries, and this has created youth unemployment, insecurity,
and general social challenges,” he said.
Jiddere added that even though the insecurity challenge in
the region has persisted, northern governors and the federal government are
doing their best by deploying kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
“In Katsina state, negotiations with bandits are ongoing,
and they have started releasing some of their captives with the promise to put
down their arms and accept reconciliation,” he said.
He also posited that the region is ready for an economic
regeneration.
“Let me demystify the assumption that majority of
northerners are uneducated. That is erroneous and completely wrong. Most of the
people you see in the north are highly enlightened. They are only facing
economic crisis,” he stated.
Salisu Mohammed, NEF deputy director general, who was also
on the programme, noted that the summit would mark a turning point by fostering
federal and state government collaboration to drive healthy competition in the
country.
“NEF knows the responsibility of elders in society. This is
our contribution to how governors can be assisted to have a productive
environment that will make northern Nigeria solve its own problem,” Mohammed
said.
“The time has come for us to concentrate on economic
regeneration and reactivate our industries, many of which are actually in a
very serious state of decline.
“And this is not helping matters concerning the social
climate we are seeing everywhere.”
Mohammed dismissed allegations of a political undertone to
the summit, stating that NEF is a non-governmental organisation with no
political affiliation.
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