The group warned that the government’s decision to approve duty-free food imports had triggered a collapse of local agro-industrial businesses, particularly rice mills.
The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has slammed President Bola Tinubu.
The group alleged that the north is being marginalized under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the group, Bashir Dalhatu, stated this at a high-level interactive session between Northern civil society groups and senior officials of the federal government in Kaduna.
The event was organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.
Dalhatu recalled the region’s strong electoral support for President Tinubu, contributing over 64% of his total votes in the 2023 presidential election.
“Despite our support and goodwill, the feeling in the North is, to put it mildly, completely mixed. Key infrastructural projects, budgetary allocations, appointments, and policy decisions have largely sidelined Northern Nigeria,” Dalhatu said.
He cited critical areas of neglect, including insecurity, agriculture, transport infrastructure, power supply, education, healthcare, and the abandonment of strategic projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and Kolmani oil exploration.
Speaking on insecurity, Dalhatu lamented the rising wave of terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings, urging the President to take strong, audacious and sustained action, especially by addressing root causes like youth unemployment and poverty.
Weighing in on agriculture, the ACF chair explained that the sector received less than 5% of the national budget in the past two years, far below the FAO’s recommended 25%.
He warned that the government’s decision to approve duty-free food imports had triggered a collapse of local agro-industrial businesses, particularly rice mills.