By Emmanuel Ado
The Sokoto State industrial landscape, which presently looks more like a Sahara desert, is totally unacceptable to Governor Ahmad Aliyu because it is a far cry from what it use to be in the 1980’s up to the late 1990’s, when Sokoto state could confidently boast of some functional fertilizer blending plants, ceramics, tannery, and furniture industries amongst other industries. These industries no doubt contributed significantly to the improved living standard of the people through direct and indirect employment, the stimulation of the other sectors of the economy and increased internally generated revenue that helped the government fund the provision of social services to the citizens.
It’s not enough that this state of affairs is rightly unacceptable to Governor Aliyu. The good thing is that he is sufficiently angry enough about the situation to action to make the difference.
Since assumption of office in 2023, the governor has not only demonstrated his conscious commitment to change the narrative,but has indeed taken several concrete steps in line with his transformative 9 – Point Smart Agenda to attract industries and improve the infrastructural landscape of the state,because no investor would invest in a state with terrible infrastructure and good roads would facilitate the movement of goods by farmers to markets for the overall benefit of the good people of Sokoto State. Governor Sokoto, understands that he was precisely elected to reverse the unacceptable level of poverty occasioned by the dearth of industries and lack of serious investment in agriculture like the lack of storage facilities, which have led to significant post-harvest losses, and reduction in the value of their produce.
For an agrarian state that agriculture is its major mainstay lack of serious investments by Governor Aliyu would have been a disaster.
Governor Aliyu’s singular determination, his untiring efforts and his vision of a Sokoto State that is economically viable has not only earned him the support of the business community, and diplomats, but their unwavering commitment to help fast track the economic development of the state. In the words of an industrialist: “Governor Aliyu’s industrialization vision is worth serious consideration and support”.
The President, Sokoto State Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Muazu Malami Maaji, has also wholeheartedly thrown the support of the business community behind the governor.
The flurry of visits by both local, international businessmen and diplomats to Sokoto State, have been described by keen observers as a ringing endorsement of the governor’s economic policies. Recently, Governor Sokoto established the Sokoto State Economic Advisory Council to help him draw up a robust roadmap to drive the economic development of the state. The Council has a mandate to formulate a “comprehensive economic blueprint for the State’s economic development”.
The Sokoto State Economic Advisory Council, is chaired by Bello Maccido, with Umar Ajiya of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited as Alternate Chairman. Other members include the immediate past Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University, Professor Lawal Bilbis,Senator Ibrahim Gobir, Abdulkar J Bello, Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Senator Ibrahim Danbaba, Prof Nasiru Yauri, Muhammad Kurfi, Abdulrahman Musa Bashir, Olaseni Oduwole, Alh Faruk Maishanu, the Commissioners of Finance, Budget, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Justice.
Governor Aliyu is unequivocal in his expectation that the council must produce workable policies that would take into consideration the unique economic challenges faced by the State and the best development strategy to achieve his administration’s industrialization goals in line with his 9- Point Smart Agenda.
Hear the governor: ”I urge you to exceed our expectations and offer vital guidance that would expedite the economic development of our dear State,in line with our administration’s strategic agenda, using your diverse experience in finance, commerce and industry”
Fortunately, the Advisory Council seems more than equal to the assignment and is determined to deliver results. Hear the Chairman:“We will be advising on the sectors of focus and on innovative financial solutions that will help the State, broaden its sources of financing,”
Thankfully Governor Aliyu enjoys the goodwill of the captains of industry, and understands that to realize his industrial ambition that he needs the support of the indigenous private sector of which Sokoto State is abundantly blessed with, before embarking on foreign investment drives. It’s a known fact that some other governors usually put the cart before the horse.
But while waiting for the report of the Economic Council which would holistically guide government policy options for the rapid economic transformation of the state, Governor Aliyu is unapologetically anchoring his economic development strategy around agriculture, because a reasonable number of the state population are involved in agricultural production. Accordingly, the government has invested in transforming the state’s huge infrastructural deficit, which has given the state a facelift, and in education and skills development.
The agricultural value chain in Nigeria even though its worth more than $85 billion, is unfortunately underdeveloped, with Africa accounting for about 60% of uncultivated arable land in the world and 13% in Nigeria, with 82 million hectares of arable land,of which only 34 million hectares have so far been cultivated
Sokoto State, has in the last two years exceeded the United Nations Education and Socio-Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendation that nationals and sub- nationals allocate 26% of their total budget to the educational sector. This is a sign of Governor Aliyu’s ambition and determination to produce a trained workforce for the upcoming industries.
Governor Aliyu is rightly unapologetic about his state’s agrarian status, or the fact that he has strategically built his economic development around agriculture, especially his commitment to the upliftment of the lives of smallholder farmers because they are the backbone of the economy of the state through improved agricultural practices, provision of farm inputs and critical investments in the processing of products where the money is. The state has also made massive investments in the construction of dams which will support Fadama and dry season farming, and purchased tractors to improve agricultural productivity.
Hear the governor: “These farmers are not just the backbone of our agricultural sector, they form the heartbeat of our nation’s prosperity.”
The governor is spot on in targeting industries that process agricultural and fertilizer blending plants to be the cornerstone of his industrialization strategy because of the synergies between agriculture and industry.
Several reports have confirmed erratic power supply as being partly responsible for the crisis faced by industrialists, artisans,small and medium enterprises. To address the lingering age long power problem, Governor Aliyu recently recently injected N32 billion towards the completion of the 38MW Sokoto Independent power plant which was conceived by former governor Aliyu Wamakko but inexplicably abandoned by the Aminu Tambuwal administration in readiness for the investors. When completed the project would also significantly improve power supply to the people of the state.
The other plank of the economic development strategy of Governor Aliyu is being vigorously built around the abundant mineral resources that the state is blessed with. The state is actively seeking to attract investments that would leverage on its abundant mineral resources. Towards this end the governor recently redeployed Yusuf Maccido, from Water Resources to the Ministry of Solid Minerals to breathe life into the sector.
Sokoto State has proven huge reserves of high quality limestone, a key mineral in construction, agriculture and steel production, gypsum, for the production of cement and Plaster of Paris (POP), and classroom chalk, kaolin, iron ore, and gold.
The other sectors are manufacturing, and tourism, with historical sites that can attract tourists. Some tourist attractions include the tomb of Usman Dan Fodio , the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, the Gobirau Minaret, which dates back hundreds of years, from the top offers a panoramic view of the city, the Sanyinna Well that reportedly never runs dry. There are several others that the government is working on and intends to build around the popular Sallah Durbar celebrations and visits by dignitaries.
The end objective of the economic development of the state is the creation of employment for his people and an improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to fund critical infrastructural projects. For Governor Sokoto, the exercise is a conscious effort to reduce the spate of poverty at all levels in his state.
Governor Aliyu will definitely succeed because he vehemently believes that it would be a crime against humanity if he doesn’t help move the people from poverty to prosperity. By prioritizing infrastructural development, improving the ease of doing business in the state, and leveraging on Sokoto state’s abundant natural resources, the governor would most certainly achieve his dream of industrializing Sokoto State
