INFORMATION MINISTER: TINUBU’S RENEWED HOPE AGENDA POSITIONING NORTH CENTRAL FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

FMINO PRESS RELEASE

INFORMATION MINISTER: TINUBU’S RENEWED HOPE AGENDA POSITIONING NORTH CENTRAL FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, infrastructure investments and security initiatives are laying a stronger foundation for accelerated growth and prosperity across the North Central region.

Idris stated this on Monday in Abuja at the first North Central Stakeholders’ Development Summit, organised by the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), with the theme, “The Great Leap Forward: A 20-Year Economic, Infrastructural and Social Development Plan for the North Central Region.”

The Minister said the region’s vast agricultural land, solid minerals, energy resources and strategic location provide significant opportunities for industrialisation, investment and employment.

He cited ongoing federal infrastructure projects, including the Buruku-Logo Bridge and Makurdi-Gboko Road in Benue; the Mararaba-Keffi expansion and Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Superhighway; the Calabar-Ebonyi-Benue-Nasarawa-Abuja Superhighway; as well as the rehabilitated Gwada-Shiroro Road and approved completion of the 71-kilometre Minna-Suleja Road in Niger State.

“These are not simply roads and bridges; they are economic infrastructure connecting farms to markets, reducing transportation costs and creating opportunities for trade and investment,” Idris said.

He also highlighted the recently commissioned $250 million Diamond New Energy lithium mining and processing facility in Nasarawa State, saying it exemplifies the Tinubu Administration’s policy of moving Nigeria from raw mineral extraction towards processing, industrialisation and value addition.

Idris said the Federal Government is equally expanding agricultural mechanisation, irrigation, financing, storage and processing to position the North Central as a major agricultural and agro-industrial hub.

“For the North Central, Renewed Hope means connecting agriculture to agro-processing, minerals to manufacturing, energy to industry, skills to employment and infrastructure to markets,” he said.

The Minister said that as Nigeria approaches 2027, the Administration’s priority is to translate the gains of difficult economic reforms into increased production, jobs, lower costs, higher incomes and improved living standards.

On security, Idris said President Tinubu is strengthening the Armed Forces and Police through additional recruitment, improved equipment, technology and intelligence, stronger inter-agency coordination and strategic partnerships, alongside the establishment of Forest Guards.

He cited the August rescue of 308 abducted Nigerians in Niger and Kwara States as evidence of improved intelligence-led collaboration among security agencies.

The Minister also backed the establishment of State Police, saying a properly designed system, with strong safeguards for professionalism and accountability, would bring policing closer to communities and complement federal security agencies.

He urged the NCDC to translate the Summit’s 20-year vision into measurable outcomes.

“The ‘Great Leap Forward’ should ultimately be measured not by meetings held or documents produced, but by safer communities, productive farms, better infrastructure, new industries, expanding businesses, jobs for our young people and rising household prosperity,” Idris said.
1/2