Bitrus Kozah, Abuja
The Northern Elders Forum, in collaboration with global partners, stakeholders, and friends of the region, is set to host the maiden edition of the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit, aimed at harnessing the abundant resources of the region.
The Forum announced that it was working with “the nineteen states of Northern Nigeria and the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC)” to ensure the region plays a central role in the country’s development agenda.
Speaking in Abuja, the Forum’s spokesperson, Professor Abu akar Jidere, said the event—“scheduled for the 29th and 30th of September 2025, has been carefully developed over the past one year and six months.”
Professor Jidere explained that, “Its purpose is to host an occasion that will launch a deliberate patriotic agenda, one designed to strengthen the region’s development efforts and open new doors of opportunity for our people, our country, and our partners.”
Describing the summit, he added that it “is not just another conference. It is the unveiling of a fresh vision. It is an economic call to action, an appeal to conscience, and a strategic plan to unlock the promise of Northern Nigeria.”
He emphasised that the event is not political but will focus on economic opportunities and prosperity for the country.
According to him, the summit will “strengthen the Northern Region and will also present a vision of growth, innovation, and partnership, and begin a new chapter.”
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The Forum stressed its determination to turn challenges into opportunities, stating that the summit will be “turning that paradox into opportunity and ensuring that Northern Nigeria steps confidently into a new era of growth.”
It further noted that its “Strategic Agenda has identified five key pillars and three supporting enablers as the foundation for Northern Nigeria’s renewal. They are:
- Land & Agriculture: Vast arable lands across 19 states, capable of feeding Africa.
- Solid Minerals: 44 identified resources in over 500 locations, waiting to be harnessed.
- Human Resources: A dynamic, youthful population—skilled and unskilled—ready to contribute.
- Infrastructure: Roads, railways, airports, dams, and energy potential seeking integration.
- Industry: Emerging and existing enterprises with the capacity to grow into regional hubs.
- The enablers: Education, healthcare, housing, and technology—the foundation on which all sustainable progress rests.”
Highlighting the region’s strategic importance, the Forum added: “Northern Nigeria is not landlocked; it is land-linked—a strategic gateway to Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, Mali, and the Central African Republic. Its 160 million people—more than the population of many nations—represent not a burden but an opportunity.”
Jidere concluded that the summit is designed to have a national and global impact: “The summit is not for Northern Nigeria alone. It is for Nigeria. It is for Africa. It is for all global partners who believe in shared prosperity. When Northern Nigeria rises, Nigeria rises. When Nigeria rises, Africa rises.”