Northern leaders lament collapse of region’s industrial base

From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, and former Minister Prof. Isa Ali Pantami have traced the North-West’s socio-economic crisis to a widening skills gap and the collapse of the region’s industrial base.

Speaking at the maiden North-West Stakeholders Development Summit in Kaduna, the leaders argued that insecurity and unemployment are symptoms of deeper structural failures in education.

Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, representing Governor Uba Sani, emphasized that the region’s challenges can no longer be tackled by states in isolation. Sani hailed the establishment of the North-West Development Commission (NWDC) as a strategic vehicle to align policies and mobilize investment for the region’s 50 million residents. “Our people are not short of reports; they are short of results,” Sani remarked, urging the commission to focus on measurable outcomes.

Representing Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Alhaji Umar Faruk Ibrahim, proposed a sub-regional education transformation body. He lamented that banditry and dilapidated school infrastructure had crippled the region’s human capital.

Prof. Pantami echoed these concerns, noting that the North had shifted from a “producer region” to a “consumer region” since the industrial heights of the 1970s. He recommended a “dual education” model: combining classroom learning with vocational training, similar to the systems used in Germany to bridge the technical skills gap.