By Kayode Araba
This was made known to the news men in the held by members of the National Assembly Caucus of the North East Geopolitical Zone, comprising all Senators and Members of the House of Representatives from the six states of our zone: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.
Thus, the emergency meeting was convened sequel to the exclusion of North East Geopolitical zone from the all-important programme of the Federal Government, the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), despite the enormous potential of our zone in all spheres of agriculture and livestock of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Therefore, Senator Goje said , $530 million is to be provided by the Federal Government, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for the SAPZ programe
However, Senator Goje noted that on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, His Excellency, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, GCON, in Kaduna State, flagged off the construction of Phase 1 of the SAPZ as part of the present administration’s plan to industrialise Nigeria’s agricultural sector and create sustainable jobs.
And, Seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been selected for the programme. The North West and South West have two processing zones each – Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, and Oyo states. The South South, South East and North Central have one processing zone.
That dispite its enormous agricultural potential, the North East is conspicuously missing from the list of states allocated the processing zones the North East is the largest geopolitical zone in the nation, covering nearly one-third of Nigeria’s total area of 272,451 km2 (105,194sq mi). 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 (GDP). and it against this backdrop. that we are extremely worried that our zone is excluded from the SAPZ programe
