Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the administration of President Bola Tinubu is implementing a coordinated plan to reposition Kano as the economic hub of northern Nigeria and a gateway for trade in West Africa.
In a statement issued in Abuja over the weekend and signed
by Abimbola Tooki, his special adviser on media and communications, Yilwatda
said ongoing infrastructure and industrial projects in Kano and the northern
corridor are part of a deliberate strategy to drive economic growth.
He said the federal government aims to restore Kano’s
historical role as a major commercial centre and expand its position as a hub
for regional trade.
“President Bola Tinubu is redesigning the economic future of
northern Nigeria through Kano,” Yilwatda said.
“His administration understands clearly that Kano is the
natural commercial nerve centre of the North and the gateway between Nigeria
and the wider West African hinterland.”
The APC national chair said the administration plans to
develop Kano into the second-largest commercial city in Nigeria after Lagos and
position it as a key gateway to the Sahel and francophone West Africa.
Yilwatda listed several infrastructure projects, including
the Kaduna–Kano standard gauge railway, which is expected to link Kano to Abuja
and southern Nigeria, and the Kano–Maradi rail line designed to connect the
state to Niger Republic and other Sahel countries.
He added that the federal government has also approved a
metropolitan rail system for Kano to improve urban mobility and logistics.
The APC chairman further cited the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano
(AKK) gas pipeline, which he said would supply gas to industries and support
power generation, as well as ongoing investments in electricity infrastructure
across the northern region.
He also referenced the rehabilitation of the
Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano road and the proposed Sokoto–Badagry superhighway as
part of efforts to enhance connectivity and trade.
Yilwatda said Kano’s large commercial base, strategic
location, and industrial history make it central to the federal government’s
economic agenda.
He added that expanding economic opportunities in the north
would help address poverty, unemployment, and insecurity.
The APC chairman criticised opposition parties, accusing
them of focusing on politics rather than development, and said the
administration’s infrastructure plan would reshape the region’s economic
outlook.
“While President Tinubu is building the infrastructure
backbone that will transform the North for generations, the opposition is busy
chasing personal ambition and power for its own sake,” he said.
“They offer no ideas, no blueprint, no alternative vision.
Their only manifesto is to insult the APC and attack every development
initiative because they lack the capacity to think beyond politics.”
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