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)

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has elevated terrorism financing supervision to a current supervisory priority, as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting the Nigerian financial system from abuse by illicit actors.

The Ag.

Director, Corporate Communications  and Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi-Ali, said in a statement that supervisory priority covers, at a high level, terrorism financing risk management, terrorism financing transaction monitoring, targeted financial sanctions implementation, and terrorism financing-related suspicious transaction reporting.

According to the statement, the Bank will continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagement, to support effective AML/CFT/CPF controls across the financial sector in line with existing legal and regulatory obligations.

“This supervisory focus also supports Nigeria’s ongoing domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity, and the protection of the financial system.”

It said further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate.

Google on Tuesday warned against using Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a shortcut to learning, urging students to harness the technology to strengthen critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills.

Google’s Vice President, Chris Phillips, gave the warning at a virtual roundtable on Google’s new AI-powered learning tools for students and teachers.

 

Phillips, also the General Manager, Education, said that AI was reshaping education but teachers must remain at the centre of the learning process.

He said that Google’s global study with Ipsos showed that learning had become the top reason people turned to AI.

According to him, 86 per cent of teachers want to use AI in their classrooms, but only 17 per cent feel adequately trained to use it effectively.

He said that Google was addressing the gap through its free Google Educator Series, offering short, practical AI training to help teachers build confidence and skills.

Phillips said that AI tools were already helping educators save up to 10 hours weekly on administrative tasks, giving them more time to engage with students.

He said that Google was also expanding teacher-led AI features in Google Classroom to enable educators to create assignments, guide students and monitor their progress.

The vice president said that AI should support teachers rather than replace them, adding that the technology should strengthen human connection between teachers and students.

He said that the future of AI in education should be built around empowering teachers and students, rather than replacing human judgment.

Phillips said: “The real breakthrough lies in helping people unlock their own potential.”

Google’s Head of Learning Science, Julia Wilcowski, said that meaningful learning required effort, including engaging with content, recalling information, practising, reflecting and applying knowledge.

Wilcowski said that Google was designing its AI education tools around learning science principles to ensure that students were guided towards discovering solutions rather than simply receiving answers.

She said that an eight-week trial in Sierra Leone showed significant improvement in mathematics among students whose teachers incorporated Google’s guided learning tool into lessons.

According to her, the improvement is equivalent to between 1.8 and 2.5 years of typical academic progress. 

She said that teachers in Italy who used Gemini to generate learning materials recorded improved learning outcomes, with more than 80 per cent of students demonstrating the skills targeted in their lessons.

Wilcowski also highlighted the importance of fact-checking and critical thinking because AI systems could still produce inaccurate information, known as hallucinations.

Google’s Director of Gemini for Education, Marta McAlister, said that the company was introducing new learning features in Gemini and Search, to help students organize their studies and learn at their own pace.

McAlister said that students could upload syllabuses, lecture notes and study guides into Gemini to create personalised study notebooks, diagnostic quizzes, bite-sized lessons and progress tracking.

She said that Gemini would also provide interactive quizzes, visualisations, voice-based learning and step-by-step assistance for complex problems.

According to her, Google Lens will soon allow students to use their phone cameras to analyse difficult diagrams and mathematics problems, identify mistakes and receive step-by-step guidance. 

She said that Google was offering Google AI Plus free for 12 months to eligible students aged 18 and above in more than 140 countries, including countries in Africa.

McAlister said that the offer would provide students with access to advanced AI learning tools, unlimited file uploads and 400GB of storage.

Google officials, however, emphasised that students and teachers must continue to verify AI-generated information and understand how answers are produced. (NAN)