World Report

YOBE STATE. Economic activity is on the increase in Yobe where major improvements have been made to the state infrastructure

he northeastern region of Nigeria is experiencing its best period since Nigeria was a British colony, according to Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Governor of Yobe State. Certainly, Yobe itself has seen major improvements since Dr Ibrahim, now in his third term, first came to power in 1991, when there were few roads, few schools and only one industry.

Education, for example, has seen a tremendous expansion with the establishment of hundreds of primary schools and more than 30 secondary schools. “In 1999 we had fewer than 20,000 boys and girls in school,” Dr Ibrahim recalls.
“Today we have close to a hundred thousand pupils. Last year alone we employed 2,900 teachers in one huge hiring operation.” This year tertiary education will be boosted by the opening of a state university.

In fact there have been improvements across the board in everything from health and housing to agriculture, industry, roads and power supply. This has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in economic activity. “As of today, we can boast of eight industries and seven cottage industries, and there are more in the pipeline,” says the governor.

Yobe is a huge, largely flat, sparsely populated state, bordering the Republic of Niger. Given the terrain – sand dunes to the north and rocky to the south – the establishment of good transport links is crucial to development and trade. A massive road construction programme linking towns and villages is in progress and a 1.5 billion naira (£7.1 million) ring road for the state capital Damaturu. A new road connecting Nigeria and the Niger Republic through Yobe is eagerly expected to give a huge boost to business between the two countries.

Bukar Abba Ibrahim
Governor of Yobe State

‘We intend to become the world’s main source of gum arabic’

INTERVIEW

The region grows rice, wheat, maize, corn, beans, cotton and groundnuts. It already has one flourmill and a second is being developed by a company from Hungary.

The state administration sees enormous potential for expanding production of high grade gum arabic, for which the savannah of the Sahel area is particularly suited. “There is a huge market for gum arabic and we have a massive amount of land available. We intend to make Yobe the main source of gum arabic in the world,” says Dr Ibrahim.
Production of sesame seeds is being encouraged. The governor adds, “We also want to establish tomato plants, onion, rice and maize plants.”

Yobe is also Nigeria’s leading livestock producer and work is under way to establish a dairy plant, which would be the first in the entire northeast of the country. A modern abattoir has been established in Damaturu, but there is as yet no processing capacity.

Endowed with an abundance of untapped mineral resources, the state holds commercial quantities of gypsum, limestone, diatomite, quartz and potash. This makes it an ideal location for the production of adhesives and pharmaceutical products, glass, cement, chalk, plaster of Paris and detergents.

“We are working with a Chinese company that has the money and is ready to invest in the field. We would offer them 80 per cent equity in a minerals company here, while we would take 20 per cent.” explains Dr Ibrahim.

Huge potential for production of high-grade gum arabic

“We are building a soda ash plant, which is being constructed by a German company as a pilot scheme, and we intend to produce about 10,000 tons per annum. If that succeeds, we will establish a bigger one. There is no other soda ash plant of this type in Nigeria.”

Efforts are also being made to develop the tourism industry, focusing on attractions ranging from its colourful Durbar festivals to the birdlife and the huge undulating sand dunes of the north.

Boasting a rich and diverse historical and cultural heritage, Yobe hopes to attract visitors to historical sites, such as the Gazarigamu, the first capital of the Karnem Bornu Empire which existed for over 1000 years.