Stakeholders in the economic sector have identified decaying infrastructure and multiple taxation as major obstacles militating against sustainable industrial growth in Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa.

They also listed inadequate funding, insecurity, and poor management as crippling industries across the states.

The stakeholders, including manufacturers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, and public officials, said this in separate interviews on Tuesday in Bauchi, Dutse and Gombe.

Zonal Coordinator, Industrial Development Centre (IDC) in Bauchi, Abdullahi Hassan, said that decayed infrastructure and poor management were largely responsible for the collapse of industries in the state.

He said that dilapidated roads, lack of functional rail transport, and inadequate logistics and multiple taxation isolate industries from market access.

Hassan said that the industries failed to standardise products for export due to lack of good management and poor market strategies.

 “These are financial burdens that startups bear. In the event that they are unable to pay the taxes, they close down,” he said.

Hassan listed some of the moribund industries in the state, to include Steyr Nigeria Ltd., Supercor Industries Ltd. Bazamri Ltd. among others.

Head of Transactions, Bureau for Privatisation and Economic Reforms (BPER), Shuaibu Mohammed, attributed the trend to the inability of the industries to adapt to modern technologies.

He said that the high cost of acquiring modern machineries and training of workers made it difficult for the companies to modernise their operations.

Mohammed called for viable intervention programmes, to ease tax burden, improve infrastructure and provide financial support for industries to revive their productions and create jobs.

Also, an official of the Bauchi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA), who pleaded anonymity, attributed the collapse of state-owned industries to poor managerial skills.

He urged the state government to adopt appropriate criteria for selecting managers, to ensure that competent professionals were appointed to oversee industrial enterprises.

The Gombe state government said that it has initiated industrial development programmes to accelerate economic diversification and address unemployment.

Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Tourism, Alhaji Nasir Aliyu, said that the government invested in infrastructure to attract investors and transform the state into an industrial hub in the North-East.

He said that the government spent about N26 billion on the establishment of the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, in a renewed employment and investment drive.

 “The 1000-hectare industrial park has critical infrastructure, including road networks, water supply and 24-hour electricity to support industrial operations.

 “About 12 companies have secured approval to operate at the park, with some already producing while others are constructing their facilities,” he said.

Aliyu said that about 1,000 jobs would be created at the park, adding that the employment opportunities would increase when the facility became fully operational.

He said that farmers and grain dealers supplying raw materials to industries would benefit through improved access to markets and better returns on their investments.

 “We have no state-owned industry, rather, we are providing an environment conducive for industries to be established and thrive through Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives,” he said.

He said that the Nasarawo small-scale industrial cluster, housing groundnut oil processors and rice millers, currently employed more than 5,000 workers.

The commissioner attributed the feat achieved to deliberate government policies aimed at improving the business environment and attracting investment.

In Jigawa, the state government has embarked on a 170.8-hectre Gagarawa Industrial Park project to serve as a regional manufacturing, trade, logistics and distribution hub.

Commissioner for Information, Youths, Sports and Culture, Sagir Musa, said that 15 plots had been allocated to companies affiliated with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), while 20 other plots were allocated to investors.

He said that the measure was imperative in view of the fact that the state industrial history has not been encouraging.

Musa said that privatisation subsequently produced a turnaround for some of the enterprises, illustrating both the difficulty of government-owned industrial ventures and the potentials of competent private-sector management.

He said that the state government has developed a PPP framework and a project portal, including the Comttra Jigawa hibiscus facility, and CoAmana’s digital market project, an agripreneurship incubation programme, agricultural and renewable-energy initiatives.

Musa recalled that during the 2026 Jigawa Economic and Investment Summit, the government announced $140 million investment commitments and adopted 40 recommendations covering investment; climate reform, agriculture, renewable energy, industrialisation, human capital and monitoring.

According to Musa, the initiative aims to strengthen local production, reduce dependence on external supplies and create employment.

He said that the success of the industrial strategy would not be measured by the number of agreements signed, investment summits organised or plots allocated, rather, by the number of industries operating in the state.

Similarly, Lamido Nasir, an industrialist, said that Jigawa was endowed with prolific agricultural resources, including rice, sesame, hibiscus, groundnuts, wheat, vegetables and livestock.

He said that the economic value associated with these commodities could be captured outside the state.

Nasir highlighted that agric export tax, unfavourable marketing and pricing policies, export restrictions, weak investment and the neglect of agriculture contributed to the collapse of industries.

He advocated for proactive industrial policy to address challenges associated with energy crises, finance, roads, security, taxation, access to land, skills, technology and markets simultaneously.

 “The state government must also establish mechanisms for continuously monitoring factories after commissioning so that today’s new industries do not become tomorrow’s abandoned projects.

 “Jigawa’s industrialisation is no longer simply an economic aspiration as it has gone beyond that.

 “With its rapid growth of youthful population and limited formal employment opportunities, building productive industries may be one of the most effective ways of converting agricultural wealth into sustainable jobs and broad-based economic growth,” he said. (NAN)