Abuja: Conference on De-Industrialisation of Northern Nigerian in progress

A two day conference on De-Industrialisation of Northern Nigerian is in progress in Abuja.

The Conference is aimed at discussing the problems bedevilling industries in Northern Nigeria with a view to proffer solutions.

Declaring the conference open, LT General Theophilus Danjuma expressed concern at the collapse of the manufacturing sub sector, especially the textile industries which employed about one point three million people.

He stressed the need for Government to modernise and subsidise agriculture and other aspects of agro –allied industrial processes.
In a message, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua who was represented by the Minster of State for Commerce and Industry, Alhaji Ahmadu Garba Bichi said industrial growth was central to the government of any country.

He said government was aware of the problems facing the industrial sector and was working towards resolving them.

Alhaji Garba Bichi added that the task of transforming the economy into an industrial giant would be best achieved if the private sector was involved.

In a paper on leadership, the Governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu said Northern Nigeria was richly endowed with vast resources which if well harnessed could transform the region into an industrial giant.