By: Monday Danladi Bauchi
It has been lamented that while Southern states are currently benefiting from CNG-related job creation, SME development, and industrial investments while the North has been placed on unequal economic opportunity leading to Northern businesses, workers, and entrepreneurs missing out on new green economy sectors.
The assertion was made by the President of Bauchi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA), Hon Aminu Mohammed Danmaliki during a press conference held on Wednesday at the Conference Hall of Malikiya College of Nursing Sciences, Bauchi.
He stressed that, “Without CNG access, transporters in the North continue relying on expensive diesel and petrol, increasing the cost of goods and services. Having the CNG, it will only cost a Southerner N3,000 to cover a distance of 150km while it will cost a Northerner N40,000 to travel to the same distance using petrol.”
According to him,”CNG reduces emissions significantly. Without access, Northern states continue to suffer from vehicular pollution, especially in urban centers like Kano, Kaduna, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, Maiduguri etc. Northern Nigeria is a logistics and agricultural hub.”
The BACCIMA President opined that CNG could drastically reduce costs and improve competitiveness in haulage, cold-chain storage, and agro-processing stressing that,”Regional imbalance in federal initiatives undermines public trust and national cohesion.”
According to him, “A truly national CNG rollout demonstrates fairness in governance. Otherwise, Nigeria under the present dispensation is fast becoming and apartheid state against the North with its 80% land size of the country and 70% of the nation’s population.”
“We demand at least three CNG conversion and refueling center per geopolitical zone in the North within the next 12 months and provide PPP frameworks for Northern entrepreneurs and investors to build and operate CNG stations and conversion garages,” he added.
The Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with transport Unions, vocational institutions, local as well as the state governments in the North will engage in capacity building in CNG technology, until permanent centers are built and deploy mobile conversion units to major transport hubs in the North.
The Federal Government must appoint zonal representatives from the North to the CNG Steering Committee to ensure regional interests are represented assuring that Northern Nigeria is ready to embrace the CNG revolution but only if given equal access to infrastructure and opportunities.
Aminu Mohammed Danmaliki added that, “We urge the federal government, implementing agencies, and development partners to act now to ensure no region is left behind in Nigeria’s energy future.”
On the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) initiative, launched in Nigeria with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners which aims to transform the agricultural sector by establishing agroprocessing hubs close to farming communities, he lamented that the North is not involved.
According to him, “These centers are designed to reduce post-harvest losses, enhance value addition, and create employment opportunities, particularly for youth and women. And again the North was short changed by excluding the entire North eastern subregion from this programme.”
He said that,”Given the North East’s significant agricultural potential, its exclusion in the SAPZ programme is criminal, the Federal Government headed by a Southerner know very well that the inclusion of the North-East could substantially benefit the region by enhancing agricultural productivity, creating jobs, and improving food security.”
The dredging of the River Niger, especially up to Lokoja in Kogi State, was part of Nigeria’s inland waterways development aimed at improving transportation, trade, and economic integration.
The project, which had seen some progress in the 2000s and early 2010s, was later slowed down and eventually discontinued or underfunded due to a combination of mainly political reason while changes in administration and shifting priorities led to inconsistent commitment to the project because it is sited in the north.
The Federal Government knew that if the dredging have been completed tremendous benefit will accrued to Northern Nigeria as transportation will be cheaper as inland waterways are more cost-effective for moving bulk goods compared to road transport.
It would have drastically reduced transport costs for businesses in the North as trade will boost, particularly in Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, and others could have had better access to Southern ports like Warri or Onitsha, improving the flow of goods and agricultural produce.
He stressed that job creation will also take place at the ports and river terminals along the dredged path which would have spurred local economies, creating jobs in logistics, trade, and infrastructure maintenance.
Moving heavy cargo by river would reduce wear and tear on the already overstretched road network and the road will be decongested.
According to him, “An attempt to bring the issue at the Senate by Sen. Natasha Hadiza Akpoti was deliberately prostrated, the Senator representing Kogi Central was simply told that the file for the dredging was missing in the Senate, can you imagine?”
He stressed that, “This project will be Facilitating trade routes via the river and 5 promote economic growth in the northern states by providing access to larger markets and ports. It will also Create Employment Opportunities, it was projected to generate significant employment.”
“For instance, in 2021, former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello stated that the dredging project could create over 2 million direct and indirect jobs.
He also lamented that,”As of April 2025, the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State, Nigeria, is not actively under construction. The project has been stalled due to a prolonged “legal dispute” between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.”
According to him,”This dispute has led to international arbitration proceedings in Paris, with Sunrise seeking damages over contract breaches and the government’s failure to honor a 2020 settlement agreement. The Nigerian Senate has expressed concern over the project’s abandonment and has called for its integration into President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
The Senate emphasized the project’s potential to generate 3,050 MW of electricity and create over 50,000 jobs, urging collaboration among relevant ministries to revive the initiative. Despite these efforts, the project remains inactive.
The Export-Import Bank of China had pledged significant financing for the project, but the release of funds is contingent upon resolving the ongoing disputes. If this project is in the southern part of the country Tinubu would have since cleared the socalled “legal” issue.
“We must again raise the issue of the oil discovery in the North, particularly in Kolmani and other basins. The discovery, commissioned under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in Bauchi, brought hope for energy and economic transformation. Yet, to our dismay, the current administration has not made any visible effort to commence the lifting of the discovered oil in Bauchi and its environs,” he added.
He asked,”Why is the oil in the North being ignored? We demand full accountability and immediate steps to 6 operationalize these resources for the benefit of the region and the nation at large. While other regions have benefitted immensely from the resources, Northern oil remains untouched. We ask: why the delay? Why the silence?