The North-East Caucus of the National Assembly on Thursday raised concerns over the exclusion of its region from the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones introduced by the Federal Government, saying it was unfair for the country’s biggest livestock hub to be left out of such an initiative.
The caucus, which comprised senators and members of the House of Representatives from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, also begged President Bola Tinubu to address the issue for the sake of fairness and equity.
They made the appeal at the end of an emergency closed-door meeting held at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
Vice President Kashim Shettima had on Tuesday flagged off the construction of Phase 1 of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in Kaduna State, declaring it a strategic milestone in Tinubu’s plan to industrialise Nigeria’s agriculture sector and create sustainable jobs for citizens.
The SAPZ is part of a larger national programme with seven states, namely Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Cross River, Imo, Ogun, Oyo states, and the Federal Capital Territory, in the first phase of the project
For a start, $530 million is to be provided by the Federal Government, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development for the programme.
Addressing journalists after the closed-door meeting, the Chairman of the North-East Caucus, Senator Danjuma Goje, expressed shock that despite its enormous agricultural potential, their zone was ‘conspicuously missing’ from the list of states allocated the processing zones.
He said, “In view of the seriousness of this matter, the members of our caucus, even though the parliament is on recess, cut short their holidays to attend this meeting and express our reservations about our region’s exclusion from the programme.
“Our potential in all aspects of the agricultural sector cannot be overemphasised. Our region, the North-East, is known for its enormous livestock and crop growth, contributing significantly to our country’s economic well-being and Gross Domestic Product.
“We appeal for the immediate inclusion of the North East Geo-political Zone in the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones. This is not only for fairness and inclusivity but for the actualisation of the lofty ideals of the present administration to industrialise Nigeria’s agricultural sector and create sustainable jobs in the country.”
A Borno lawmaker representing Kaga/Magumeri/Gubio Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Usman Zannah, also decried the exclusion, saying they don’t find the development funny.
According to him, it was unfair to leave out a zone as big as North-Central whose means of livelihood has been heavily worsened by the activities of Boko Haram and other insurgents in the past one decade.
He said, “The stability of any zone is the stability of the country. Whenever we see where we are being shortchanged, we deserve to speak out.
“It is bad enough that out of the states being considered, every other zone was picked except the North-East. If you talk about the region with the largest livestock in the country, it had to be our region.”
