The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has asked the Federal Government to make the mining sector a top priority in northern Nigeria, saying it could boost industries, create jobs, and reduce poverty.
Speaking at the first Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit 2025 in Abuja, the NEF Chairman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said the North is sitting on untapped mineral wealth that could transform the region if properly developed.
The summit, themed “Unlocking Northern Nigeria’s Mining, Agricultural and Power Potentials (MAP2035),” is designed as a 10-year action plan, not just another round of discussions.
“If mining is properly harnessed, connected to value chains, and supported with strong infrastructure, it will bring growth, jobs, and prosperity to our people,” Abdullahi said.
He noted that agriculture and railways had long sustained the North’s economy, but minerals offer equally big opportunities if backed by clear government policy.
Abdullahi pointed out that despite its rich resources and hardworking population, the North still struggles with poor infrastructure—bad roads, weak rail networks, power shortages, and storage challenges—that make it difficult to fully exploit its potential.
He stressed that real progress will only come when mining and related industries are placed at the center of government policies.
The forum also recalled how the North once thrived on cotton, groundnuts, and tobacco in the 1960s, and later expanded into textiles, leather, and food processing in Kano and Kaduna during the 1970s oil boom. By the 1980s, the region had moved into cement and steel production, but poor infrastructure, corruption, and inconsistent policies
