Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has urged a binding commitment among the 19 northern states to speak with one voice on security and economic matters.
The governor chaired the first day of the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit on Monday at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
A statement by the governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Idris, disclosed that the investment summit was organised by the Northern Elders Forum, led by Professor Ango Abdullahi.
The statement added that the theme of the summit, ‘Unlocking Strategic Opportunities,’ gathered all relevant stakeholders across the Northern part of Nigeria.
In his remarks, Governor Lawal commended the Northern Elders Forum for its consistent commitment to the progress of the Northern region.
“By convening this gathering under the theme, ‘Unlocking Strategic Opportunities,’ you have once again demonstrated a clear-eyed focus on our collective future.
The statement read in part: “The choice of sectors—Mining, Agriculture, and Power—is not accidental. It is a strategic diagnosis of the core pillars upon which the prosperity of Northern Nigeria must be built.
In Zamfara, we are aware of the paradox we face: a land blessed with immense mineral wealth, and vast arable land, yet our people have not fully reaped the dividends of these endowments.
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“The key question for us as leaders is not what needs to be done, but how we can collectively turn potential into prosperity. To attract necessary investment and industrialise our region for the nation’s benefit, we must move beyond rhetoric and adopt a new approach of collaboration.”
Governor Lawal further stressed that a safe North is a bankable North, a region that leaders across the 19 Northern States must deepen collaboration beyond politics.
Governor Lawal said the North must collectively secure people and investments.
Security is the fundamental prerequisite for any meaningful development, adding that investors, both domestic and international, are not philanthropists but realists.
They will not commit capital where it is not safe.
He urges the North to integrate security architecture, share intelligence in real-time, and foster greater community policing, to create a secure and predictable environment.
Governor Dauda Lawal calls on the North to create a Single Window for major investors looking to do business across the region.
Co-invest in critical infrastructure like power, rail and fibre optics that connect our states.
(Editor Paul Akhagbemhe)
