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A Special International Report
Prepared by
The Washington Times
Advertising Department - Published on September 30, 1999
[Home Page]
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Sponsors (1) Federal Ministry of Finance
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Yobe state: the pride of a determined people
Despite its comparativelylate formal beginnings, Yobe has a richly diverse cultural heritage. Home to the famous 8000-year-old Dufana Canoe, the area’s history dates back thousands of years while the population traces its roots to the Arab lands. Durbar traditions have been a prominent feature of Yobe’s cultural heritage for more than a century, with displays of heroes.
Located in northeastern Nigeria, Yobe shares its 325-kilometer northern border with the Republic of Niger. Most of the state’s 47,153 square kilometers is dedicated to agriculture and livestock. About 90 percent of her 2 million population is engaged in subsistence farming, mostly using traditional implements.
Past military rule left much of Nigeria’s potential untapped, with investors attracted more to the southern region than to the north. Today, Yobe is poised for discovery.
This is Governor Alhaji Bukar Abba Ibrahim’s second term in office, and this time he is determined to see the hopes and aspirations of his people fulfilled. He knows the best hope for prosperity is harnessing the state’s abundant natural and human resources.
According to the governor, Nigeria now imports about 30,000 tons of potash for use in making soap and pharmaceuticals. Yobe has the potential to supply the whole amount, he said.
“There is an area where potash just comes out of the ground and people come to harvest it. If we can get people to come in and invest we could produce the whole requirement of the country, which would be a major achievement.” A similar opportunity exists for supplying gypsum to local cement factories that now rely on imported supplies.
Another opportunity for industrial investors is the agro-allied industry. Nestling between the rolling sand dunes in the north and rugged terrain in the south are valleys and land rich in agricultural potential. The state provides fertile ground for rice, wheat, maize, corn, beans, cotton and peanuts which could be used to set up flour, feed, textile and oil mills. Some facilities for these industries have already been established but have been lying dormant while military governments misused the allocated funds.
With 120 million people in Nigeria and the potential to export foodstuffs to neighboring West African countries, there is a market waiting to be fed by a newly invigorated agro-allied industry.
The grazing of cattle on Yobe’s large tracts of open land is another possibility for a state looking to fully use its resources. As Nigeria’s largest producer of cattle, accounting for 40 percent of the nation’s product, opportunities for meat processing and packaging cannot be ignored. Leather works and the export of hides and skins to neighboring countries also represent a significant opening for potential investors.
To help build on potential, the government has created new ministries. They include a Ministry of Land and Solid Minerals to facilitate exploitation of the solid mineral potential, a Ministry of Animal and Forestry Resources to develop its livestock possibilities, and a new Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Transport created out of the former Ministry of Finance.
As it looks ahead, Yobe is striving to develop its infrastructure. The state has stepped up its efforts to construct roads to open its rural areas.
Much of the state’s power needs are supplied through a Rural Electrification Scheme. And, while the governor is currently discussing with the Federal Government further extending the services of Nigeria’s Electric Power Authority (NEPA), the void offers an opportunity for foreign companies to establish joint ventures for power supply which would ultimately stimulate industrial growth.
In the meantime, the government has invited investment. It has set aside industrial plots, equipped with the necessary facilities for establishing industries in Damaturu and other major towns. “When investors want to establish an industry there will be no impediment,”Ibrahim explained.
“Land is no problem,” he said. “Whatever size land investors require, the state is willing to give away free for a period of 99 years. We are also ready to provide roads, power and water supply to any industry that is interested in establishing itself either in the state capital or any of the other big towns.”
All that is lacking is the presence of investors; the state is confident they will come.
“Now that the investment climate in the country has improved, our relationship has also improved with other countries. We welcome Americans to come in and do business here,” Ibrahim said.
One of the greatest challenges confronting Yobe State is desertification and desert encroachment. Its fertile land, though able to sustain crops under minimal rainfall conditions, is unable to fend off the approaching desert.
Struggling with this problem, as well as intermittent droughts, floods and subsequent erosion, has drained millions of dollars from state coffers.
Ibrahim is concerned at the lack of international attention desertification attracts. “We have been making some small efforts here and there but we are hoping some big financial institutions can come in and stop it altogether or a least limit its negative effects,” he said.
The scope of Yobe’s problems may seem daunting. But Ibrahim is determined that these hurdles be overcome and the potential of the state and her people realized. Still, he acknowledges the state cannot do it all alone. It will require support from the international community, particularly the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, US Agency for International Development and other donor agencies.
At one time, Ibrahim says, the state did receive assistance from both the E.U. and the World Bank. However, when relations with the international community soured, the state was one of the first to feel the brunt. The governor is hoping they will pick up where they left off.
Despite its problems, Yobe is virgin territory for them, ready and willing to provide whatever facilities and support will attract and keep them. “It is for our mutual benefit. We want investors to set up industries so they can benefit from our resources and we can benefit by way of employment and economic growth that will create more opportunities for the people, the state and the country,” the governor said. “Please come forward, the doors are open and you are most welcome.”
Those who take advantage of Yobe’s abundant untapped opportunities now will be glad of their early entry as the state begins its giant strides into the 21st century.
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Table of Contents (1) It's a new dawn over Nigeria |
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Carved out of Nigeria’s Borno state in 1991, Yobe is one of the most recently formed states in the federation, with all the dynamism and promise that comes with youth.
In terms of untapped wealth, Yobe’s people are walking on a potential fortune in mineral deposits. Research has shown the existence of commercial quantities of gypsum, limestone, diatomite, trona, quartz, gum arabic and potash. This makes the state an ideal location for industries such as cement, glass, chalk, plaster of paris, soap, detergent and adhesives, as well as pharmaceuticals.
Like the oil processing mill, Yobe also has a large meat processing plant and accompanying cold storage in Lagos that has been idle since the British left in the 1960s. Now, with the railway being rehabilitated, the opportunity to get the plant back in operation is waiting.