The Northern Awakening: Why the NNIIS 2025 Must Not Fail -By Aliyu Sulaiman Babasidi

For what must be the umpteenth time in our national chorus of unrealized potential, northern Nigeria (all 19 states of it) is proclaimed as the region blessed with enough people, minerals, and farmland to feed the country and fund it too. I have heard this so many times for so many years that the refrain has almost become a lullaby. Yet, all those grand declarations and clout-attracting rhetoric have produced little by way of tangible outcomes for the region or spurred its inhabitants into real action.

On the contrary, the inverse relationship between population growth and actual economic development has continued to widen, with all 19 states towing different and sometimes conflicting policy paths that have contributed little or nothing to the national bottom line. Problems will always exist, and it has never been the absence of intellectual capital that holds the North back. High-IQ individuals have for decades analyzed, diagnosed, and theorized solutions for the region’s ailments. What has been missing is coordination, the will to harmonize these ideas into collective, measurable progress.

From the time Mungo Park “discovered” the River Niger to Lord Lugard’s amalgamation of the North and South, the immense economic potential of Northern Nigeria has never been in doubt. The problem has always been translating potential into productivity.

But now, in 2025, something refreshing is stirring. What we are witnessing might just be the spark that forces the region to finally challenge the status quo. It is, to my mind, the light at the end of a very long tunnel. A team of young, brilliant, versatile, and multi-talented individuals drawn from both partisan and non-partisan backgrounds have come together to transform the North’s economic narrative.

Their brainchild, the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialization Summit (NNIIS 2025), has already begun to gain traction by securing the buy-in of key economic, political, religious, and corporate players across the 19 northern states.

Why is this different? Why does it feel like the first real attempt at rewriting the North’s economic destiny?

Because among the brains behind the summit are individuals who have verifiable records of turning ideas into frameworks, frameworks into policies, policies into reforms, and reforms into measurable outcomes. They are not theoreticians. They are implementers.

Take Khalil Nur Khalil, the former Executive Secretary of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency and now Economic Adviser to the Governor of Katsina State, one of the brightest by-products of the Nasir El-Rufai era. Khalil helped reposition Kaduna as the most investor-friendly state in northern Nigeria, attracting billions in private capital and strengthening the non-oil revenue base of the region.

Then there is Naufal Ahmad, Director-General of the Katsina State ICT Directorate, a protégé of Governor Dikko Umar Radda (CON). Under his watch, Katsina has emerged as one of the leading digital and innovation hubs in the North, pioneering tech-driven governance and youth inclusion.

Also, Hajiya Halima Babangida, the Director-General of the Northwest Governors’ Forum, has been instrumental in fostering seamless collaboration among the seven Northwestern states, a feat previously thought impossible. Her administrative dexterity and coordination have proven that unity of purpose can be achieved beyond political lines.

Add to that M.S. Ingawa, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Strategy to the Governor of Katsina State, young, resourceful, and well-connected. Together, these minds have demonstrated a brand of leadership driven by intellect, collaboration, and measurable progress.

Their conviction, track record, and collective resolve offer more than optimism; they provide proof that this is a struggle that will be seen to its logical end. You can see it in the sweat and discipline already invested in the summit, the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed across the 19 states, the MAP Agenda (Mining, Agriculture, and Power), and the pragmatic framework to industrialize the North through agribusiness, digital inclusion, and manufacturing clusters.

This is not another talk shop or policy carnival. The NNIIS 2025 has succeeded in bringing together not just government actors but institutions like the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), and a broad range of public-private stakeholders who understand that for the North to thrive, its people must first take ownership of their development story.

In a region where the loudest expressions of politics often come from campaign songs and personality cults, this new emphasis on structured dialogue and investment synergy feels like the renaissance we have been waiting for. The NNIIS 2025 represents the North thinking strategically, not emotionally, about its future.

It is, perhaps, the most honest expression of collective introspection the region has witnessed in decades.

But here’s the catch: momentum is fragile. The real test is not in organizing a summit but in sustaining its vision long after the cameras go off and the hashtags fade away. That responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the 19 northern governors who have pledged their support.

This is my passionate plea to them: keep your promise. Let this not become another episode in the long catalogue of abandoned northern dreams. Follow through on your commitments, empower these young visionaries with the resources they need, and ensure that implementation outlives tenure.

For once, let the North’s narrative change, from lamentation to collaboration, from rhetoric to results.

To the organizers and hundreds of young people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, from Khalil to Naufal, from Hajiya Halima Babangida to M.S. Ingawa and countless others, history will remember you for choosing action over apathy, for proving that reform can indeed come from within.

The Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialization Summit 2025 must not fail. Because if it does, the North might not get another chance this decade.

Aliyu Sulaiman Babasidi.
Risk and Compliance Manager, Katsina
saliyu50@gmail.com