AREWA UNTAPPED ECONOMIC POTENTIALS - Unlocking Arewa’s economic potentials will require significant investment in the region’s biggest asset, i.e. its people through education. Arewa requires a strong base of human capital. So, investment in education and training is crucial. The entire education value chain must be restructured to reflect the current economic realities. The emerging labour force must have the basic skills and the skills that match business demands. Thus, equipping the youths with the appropriate skills and tools will be key in boosting the growth potentials of the economy. One area where northern Nigeria’s untapped possibilities in agriculture are glaring is in rice and wheat production. The northern date palm industry has the potentials to provide food, raw materials, income and employment to millions of northerners (Potentials of Date Palm Tree to the Nigerian Economy).

Economic Miracle Of Northern Nigeria Is Not Wishful Thinking
If the leaders of northern Nigeria, in one of their fabled nocturnal meetings, decide not to allow their agricultural produce to head South, there will be starvation of near biblical proportions in the South, at the very least in the short term. Once the order to stop the southward flow of agricultural produce filters through the communication system peculiar to the North, it will become law and inviolate to the peasants and all. Such is the hold of Northern leaders on their people. Such is also the reality that the North feeds the South with its vast agricultural output.

A visit to any market in the South will reveal that at least eighty percent of the foodstuff are of Northern origin including but not limited to beans, tomatoes, ginger, onions, pepper, potatoes, guinea corn, millet, wheat, yams, benniseed, cowpeas, ground nut, carrots, sugar cane, the full range of livestock and so on. "Have you not noticed that every time it is Islamic fasting season, the quantity of agricultural produce to the South is reduced to a trickle with attendant spike in prices, even in the face of reduced quality?" according to Okechukwu Peter Nwobu.

Peter Nwobu posits that the vast northern territory and agricultural potential are real but grossly underutilised. The current level of agricultural output from the North is less than the tip of the iceberg of their true potential to feed Nigeria and Africa and supply the agricultural raw materials required to sustain a wide range of agro allied industries that should be located in the North. The North is blessed with renewable agricultural resources, unlike crude oil which in Nigeria’s case will run out in less than forty five years, that is, if technological advances will not make crude oil irrelevant long before the wells dry up. What will it take to make the North realise their full potential and march into the 21st century confidently and emerge as an economic miracle? The world will always need agricultural produce for food and industrial raw materials, in ever increasing quantities, thanks to the red hot economies of China and India, who in addition to their industrial demand, also produce staggering numbers of newly emerging middle class every year who feed better.

The astronomic rise in the price of crude oil has also led to increasing production of bio fuels from agricultural produce, whose additional advantage is its smaller carbon footprint, when compared to fossil fuel, in a world caught in the understandable frenzy of global warming. All the foregoing explains why prices of agricultural produce are going up and will continue to go up. The agro based industrial parks that should blanket the North will produce processed livestock, canned, bottled, bagged or tetra packed food for local consumption and export to a world that still craves rapidly disappearing processed natural foods and not their synthetic replacements. Imagine processed tomatoes, onions, ginger, carrots, beans, chilli pepper, potatoes, ground nuts, vegetable oils, sweeteners and syrups from grains, livestock feeds, cotton etc, proudly made in Northern Nigeria.

To attain these desirable goals will mean taking quantum leaps in attitudes, behaviour and political will, because what is required is far beyond the present level of thinking made worse by mental laziness at all levels of officialdom. The starting point is large scale mechanised agriculture. Before the issue of land reform and redistribution became a victim of political brinkmanship, 4,500 commercial farmers were the cornerstone of the Zimbabwean economy. Their mechanised farms earned Zimbabwe most of its foreign exchange and the title of the food basket of Southern Africa. The territory of Northern Nigeria is bigger than Zimbabwe and already has existing dams and irrigation systems which can be expanded to make the North the food basket of Africa.

Presently, only Kwara State is making marginal head way with a handful of erstwhile Zimbabwean commercial farmers. The attempt in Nasarawa State is mired in all kinds of difficulties starting from official indifference, lack of basic infrastructure to foot dragging by banks that daily change the conditions for even already agreed commercial loans.

Why is the North not willing to shake itself out of its self imposed lethargy and take advantage of these unique opportunities? For how much longer will they remain victims of the curse of oil and the dismantling of regional governments in Nigeria? The curse of oil has made them seem lazy and contended with the monthly handouts from the Federal government. In 1967, General Yakubu Gowon in order to weaken Biafra, created twelve states and destroyed regional systems of government during which ground nut pyramids were part of the Northern landscape. Today, we have states that are too small to be viable and too weak to challenge the accumulated powers of a federal government which has repeatedly failed to provide the kind of leadership, regional leaders like Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe or Dr Michael Okpara provided. Apart from Lagos, other states of the federation are not so viable, especially the ones in the North. "I believe that if the monthly allocation is stopped, the North will witness within two years an agricultural revolution that will be the spring board for an economic miracle that will change the face of the North within a generation". Why not pretend that the federal allocations have ceased in order to focus on the problems? Can Northern leaders summon the political will and moral fibre that will cause them to look upon their own people with pity and resolve to push past official indifference and develop a concerted plan of action with measurable yardsticks, to chart its progress?

Is the North patently lazy as their sole dependence on federal allocations seem to suggest? The vanished ground nut pyramids which made them the world’s largest exporter up to the early 1970s and the various food stuff in our markets are proofs that the answer is an emphatic-no, because they bear testimony to a people as industrious as anyone in Nigeria. The only problem is that this back breaking farm work is at subsistent level. This is where the governments, leaders and wealthy moguls of the North should step in to fashion out investor friendly packages that will bring in commercial farmers from all over the world.

How I wish that Sir Ahmadu Bello is alive to run with this vision, because the present leaders of the North who benefited prodigiously from his policies think of no one else but themselves. Will they shift their gaze from influence peddling, manning the choicest ministries and government agencies, oil blocks and crude oil lifting contracts to look upon their own suffering masses? Will they be willing to stop the exploitation of the minds of their own people while they grow obscenely rich? These are the leaders who as military and civilian rulers are responsible for the disgraceful failures of Nigeria and the abject poverty which every study has found to be more acute in the North. It is traditional, perhaps fashionable but nonetheless selfish to make Northern communities believe God ordained one person in their community to be the heart of that community whose name he bears. It is mindless exploitation to offer these leaders their daughters in return for basins of food placed under dogonyaro trees for the wretched of the community.

And while this exploitation of Northerners by Northern elite is going on, their masses are told that Southerners are the scourge of Nigeria, irrespective of the fact that in the only free and fair presidential election in Nigeria in 1993, Northern masses voted overwhelmingly for a Southerner ahead of a Northerner. Unknown to them, their worst enemies are not Southerners but their leaders who have left them and other Nigerians adrift. As long as these Northern leaders focus their eyes on crude oil, they will never allow the Niger Delta keep 50% of revenues derived from their land and waters that can no longer support farming and fishing activities of any kind. They fear that with 50% derivation, they will lose their oil blocks and crude oil lifting contracts. Do these leaders not know that the North will earn billions of dollars annually from agriculture, a renewable resource unlike crude oil that will some day run out or become irrelevant? Do they not know that while they amass amazing personal wealth, the ranks of their wretched, the ‘legendary almajaris’, armed with begging bowls and gullible minds swells, perhaps someday soon, to their own peril?

Very soon, what worked between the 1960s to date, that unleashed the almajaris on the streets of the North against Southerners will no longer work. When you look to the Gulf and see what their Muslim brothers are doing in Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, to reinvent their societies to face the challenges of the 21st century, you will realise that the failures in Northern Nigeria has got nothing to do with their religious beliefs. The example of the Gulf nations is an eloquent testimony that poverty is not a virtue but along with its twin brother ignorance, are curses.

The North which once produced 80% of Nigeria’s total grains output must use its agricultural endowments to dig itself out of the hole which she dug and fell into. They must take away the begging bowls and daggers and send their children to school to equip them to work in the farms and factories that will spring up all over the North. When we add to the equation, the equally untapped, vast mineral deposits beneath the soils of the North and their potential multiplier effect, then we can begin to understand how big the economic miracle of Northern Nigeria can be.

If they chose to continue to ‘almajarise’ Northern youths in sustained poverty and ignorance, someday soon they will sink their daggers into the opulent flesh of their leaders in what will be fits of righteous anger for making their lives meaningless. Imagine for a moment the additional vast agro based industries in other parts of Nigeria based on cocoa in the Southwest; oil palm, rice, coco yams, yams and cashew in the South East and parts of the South South; cassava, corn, mango, citrus fruits, plantain, banana, rubber and timber in parts of the South East, South West and South South. I believe I am not the only one the Lord has allowed to photograph the great future of Nigeria and its endless possibilities. If our leaders are clueless and not interested in sacrificial leadership, then they do not deserve to be called leaders but thieves!

If the groundnut pyramids and indeed pyramids of many grains and produce are to reappear, and poverty’s march slowed, stopped and reversed, a new way of doing things must be adopted by the north otherwise what is point of having the richest African, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as a Northerner.

Inland Water Transportation: The Untapped Potentials in Nigeria’s Economy
It is imperative for government to develop inland water transportation in Nigeria because it is cheaper, safer, more environmentally friendly, with less operating cost and  handling capacity. Nigeria is well drained by over three hundred inland rivers and waterways, these natural waterways have not been developed for the transportation of goods and services, and people. It has been argued that the commercial life of the inland waterways in Nigeria, and especially in northern part of the country could be sustained by the industrial and agricultural products of the hinterlands. Significant because bulky commodities  such as steel, cement, wood, furniture and livestock, and fragile goods such as glass, agricultural products, diary products etc., can be better conveyed on waterways. All inland river terminals and ports in Nigeria should be dredged well with infrastructural facilities like transport system,   light railways and roads networks to link all state capitals, and develop artificial canals that should open up alternative passenger routes particularly in river side settlements.

Arewa great economic potential and abundant resources
Nigeria possesses much more than simply oil and gas. It is home to significant deposits of coal, iron ore, lead, limestone, tin gold, and zinc etc, especially in the north. The potential is great and better than crude oil of the south. Gold, Uranium, Iron Ore, Gemstones, Columbite, Tantalite, Kaolin, Goshenite and other precious minerals are everywhere across the north. Just as importantly, it has rich land and water resources that are ripe for further agricultural exploitation. Indeed, the agricultural industry remains a mainstay of the economy, accounting for 23.9% of GDP and upwards of 70% of the country’s workforce (see Agriculture chapter). Approximately 83.7% of Nigeria’s land area is agricultural, although only 40% is arable. Substantial water resources also assist the agricultural sector. The country has 230bn cu metres of total renewable water resources. This should help expand productivity through irrigation. As of 2012, only 0.3% (or 2930 sq km) of Nigeria’s total land area was irrigated.

Population  - The country’s other major resource is its people and large internal market. With an estimated 184m people in 2015, according to the IMF, Nigeria ranks as the seventh-most-populous country in the world. Furthermore, it is predicted to rapidly climb through these rankings in the coming decades. With a current population growth rate of 2.7%, Nigeria is forecast to reach 440m people by 2050, ranking it as the third-largest country globally by demographic size according to the Economy chapter. Given these trends, it is unsurprising that Nigeria is also a young country, increasingly urban. With the urban population growing at 3.75% a year, the share of Nigerians living in towns and cities will soon surpass 50% of the total population according to the Construction & Real Estate chapter.

The country has more than 250 different ethnic groups. Half of the population is Muslim, while a further 40% are Christian. English is the official language of the country, while Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are commonly spoken in specific regions. In total, there are more than 500 indigenous languages currently spoken throughout the country and over 300 are in the northern part of the country.

Climate  - Given the contrasts between the north and south of the country, it is hardly surprising that temperature and weather conditions vary substantially. The far north is arid, the centre of the country is tropical and the south is equatorial. Along the coast, humidity reigns, but temperatures rarely climb above 32°C. Further north, there is a dry season, running from November to March, and a wet season, lasting from April to October. During the dry period, temperatures can reach 38°C during the day. However, they drop as low as 12°C at night. Average annual rainfall can vary from roughly 430 cm in the south-east of the country to just 50 cm in the far north. The latter region is influenced by the Harmattan, a hot and dry northerly wind, which blows in dust from the Sahel and Sahara.

Arewa regional decision makers   Arewa demographic profiles Untapped economic potentials Small & medium enterprises Information technology

Stronger economies together Arewa strategic doing Arewa center of excellence Era of collaboration & partnership Economic gardening

---

 Restructuring is good for the North because the North has so many Potentials of Solid Mineral Exploration, so great that by the time the northern  Governors realize it they will almost forget about allocation funds coming from Federal Government and too much Taxes on its citizens to generate more internally generated revenue (IGR). The potential is great and better than crude oil of the south. Gold, Uranium, Iron Ore, Gemstones, Columbite, Tantalite, Kaolin, Goshenite and other precious minerals are everywhere across the north, but also Lithium Brine Rocks, lithium-bearing pegmatite and spodumene, a critical component for making electric car batteries. By 2030, oil will no longer be that important as electric cars will take over, lithium batteries will also be used for powerhouses and so much more. The potentials for export of these natural minerals and local use in manufacturing from the north are unparalleled. The Southerners are just beginning to realize the potentials and if we begin to explore them, what it will mean to their so-called oil; and clamour for Restructuring. That is why some of them are beginning to downplay the issue of restructuring now: every region to control its resources, but the north must insist on Restructuring Now. Because the southerners erroneously believe that northerners are backward and uneducated and think that the north is dependent on the south simply because they have oil while forgetting that the south depends on the north for its staple foods. 80% of food consumed in the south, apart from cassava comes from the north: rice, beans, maize, guinea corn, yam, wheat, tomatoes, onions, pepper, spices and meat: cow, goat, and donkeys, etc. Nigeria plans to spend 15 billion naira, about $42 million over the next year or so to explore minerals and attract investors into mining and reduce its dependence on oil. Also, the north has oil too but abundant of natural resources: solid minerals. The North must get its act right and the future will be much brighter, more prosperous and better. The teaming Youths will have ample jobs and things to do; and for every mining job, 4 more jobs will be created and the north will virtually have near-zero-unemployment... READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW

“Given the emergence of new regional dynamics in development policy and practice, Arewa region MUST fine-tune current regional development perspectives and to develop new ones that are not only more in sync with the present and future global context but with the governance systems being currently adopted that are becoming more and more decentralized and grassroots oriented. States Governors within the Arewa region must come together to create and adopt the Arewa Regional Economic Plan with emphasis on a balanced approach to development and opportunity for all diversity irrespective of one’s tribe, social class, religious belief and even political affiliation; and establish targets for economic growth of the entire region taking advantage of our Demographic Shifts, which will fuel the growth of new sectors, markets, and service lines in our communities. The ability of our diversity to build strength and unity is the power that will propel the region and consequently, the Nigerian industry, into new dimensions of performance and inclusive growth. Catalyzing Inclusive Growth Through ICT-enabled solutions in healthcare, education, financial services and public services can drive socio-economic development and inclusion of more than 30 million citizens each year, faster, cheaper and more effectively than traditional models. The economic plan should be built on current regional opportunities, collaboration and innovation linking States macroeconomic models with regional development and economic plan termed: Regional Econometric Model”…President ACRD