Dangote Reveals Why Northern Nigeria Will Remain Poor
Northern Nigeria will continue to remain poor except state governments move to close the development gap between the north and the south, according to Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote.
Speaking at the 4th edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KadInvest 4.0) in Kaduna on Wednesday, the Chairman of Dangote Group of Companies, berated Northern governors for doing little to end poverty in the region.
He said, “Nigeria is ranked at 157th out of 189 countries on the human development index. While the overall socio-economic condition in the country is a cause for concern, the regional disparities are in fact very alarming.
“In the North Western and North Eastern parts of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty.
“It is instructive to know that the 19 Northern states which account for over 54 per cent of Nigeria’s population and 70 per cent of its landmass, collectively generate, only 21 per cent of the total subnational IGR in the year 2017.
“Northern Nigeria will continue to fall behind if the respective states governments do not move to close the development gap.
“And that is why we are always saying the biggest challenge that we have and what we have been praying for is to have 10 governors like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to move northern Nigeria forward.
“Closing the gap requires multi years investment and the government will not be able to raise the require capital funding, only the private sector can raise the capital to fund the level of investment that this country needs.”
He went on: “Therefore, the government must create a conducive environment that will trigger a huge inflow of private capital into attractive sectors of the economy.
“Private investment will create jobs and will ameliorate the twin problem of poverty and unemployment.
“As more people are gainfully employed, you will witness a very sharp decline in some of the disturbing social vices prevalent in our society, especially among the youths.”
