Several reputable leaders of thought and technocrats from the North have challenged conventional thinking on the challenges and opportunities for the private sector and industrial development of the region. They argued that private enterprise is well-positioned to accelerate change and embed progress.
They spoke at the end of a two-day retreat organised by the Board and Management of the New Nigerian Development Company (NNDC) in Abuja.
In his remarks on Thursday, to mark the closing of the strategy retreat, Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State stressed that, “If we are serious about addressing instability in the North, then we must also be serious about creating opportunity. Economic revival, job creation, and social stability are deeply connected. Institutions like NNDC must therefore do more than manage assets; they must be profitable enough to help create hope, improve productivity, and shared prosperity.”
He challenged NNDC to recover its sense of mission as an economic vehicle for the North, pooling its profits to fund commercially viable ventures across the region, he said. “I therefore challenge the Board and Management to reposition NNDC for the realities of a changing world. Gov. Yahaya affirmed that innovative and creative ideas designed for growth must be embraced by the company, as the economies of the future will be shaped by technology, innovation, and digital enterprise. “The company must begin to take opportunities in ICT, fintech, digital platforms, and other technology-enabled investments seriously, especially given the scale of youth talent and entrepreneurial potential across Northern Nigeria.
Other speakers included Mal. Tanimu Yakubu, DG Budget Office of the Federation, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, Ex NNDC GMD, also a former CEO of FSB International Bank and Ezekiel Gomos, Director-General, Secretariat of the Northern States Governors Forum.
While chairing a session entitled, “Reliving the Vision of our Hero’s Past: Sustaining the Legacy and Purpose of our Founder into the Future” Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, a former GMD of NNDC, stressed that hard decisions would need to be taken to bring the company back on track. He explained that change is painful but requires courage and determination. While reliving the golden age of the NNDC, he praised the Vision of Sir Ahmadu Bello and explained that the NNDC’s potential could be realised if its leadership took the hard decisions necessary to drive a broad change process.
In his paper, which was entitled “NNDC and the Reawakening of a Competitive Northern Economy”, Mal. Tanimu Yakubu, Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, contended that the “NNDC was never conceived as a passive holding entity. It was born as an instrument of regional ambition—a platform through which Northern Nigeria could aggregate capital, build enterprises, and assert its place within a rapidly evolving national economy.
According to him, “that founding vision has not diminished. If anything, the scale of today’s challenges makes it more relevant than at any point in our history. The task before us is therefore not to preserve NNDC, but to reimagine it as the nucleus of a regional growth strategy—one that is deliberate, investment-driven, and unapologetically focused on competitiveness,” Tanimu enthused.
He posited that a “profound shift—from a legacy institution to a modern investment engine” is required, “one that is governed with transparency, managed with professionalism.
Mr Yakubu also stressed that performance needs to be measured not by activity, but by the impact its operations have on its bottom line and the economy. This, he said, is because every investment must answer a simple question: “does it expand the productive capacity of the North? If the answer is yes, it belongs within the NNDC strategy.”
Considering that the North is projected to host one of the largest populations on the continent within a generation. This is not merely a statistic; it is a market, a workforce, and a source of entrepreneurial energy. He explained that “the difference between a demographic burden and a demographic dividend lies in whether we build the economic structures capable of absorbing and rewarding that energy. NNDC must be at the forefront of building those structures. It must invest in the value chains that matter—agro-processing that multiplies farmer incomes, energy solutions that power industry, logistics systems that reduce the cost of trade, and manufacturing platforms that create jobs at scale…it must invest in systems, not silos—ensuring that each intervention reinforces the others in a coherent economic design. This is the essence of a regional strategy.” Mr Yakubu said.
In his submission, Mr Ezekiel Gomos, OFR, Director-General, Secretariat of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) opined that, “at a time when Northern Nigeria is confronted by economic strain, rising social pressures, and deep security concerns, NNDC cannot afford to remain on the margins. It must rediscover its purpose, rebuild its strength, and reclaim its relevance as a vehicle for investment, enterprise, and regional economic revival”
Mr. Gomos also cautioned that, “strong institutions are not built only by strategy documents; they are built by culture, discipline, loyalty, and professionalism. One of the self-destructive habits that weakens organisations is the tendency of insiders to wash dirty linen in public by leaking internal matters to the media or external parties in the hope of gaining attention, advantage, or momentary relevance. Such practices may satisfy personal frustrations in the short term, but in the long term, they damage institutional credibility, weaken investor and stakeholder confidence, deepen internal mistrust, and ultimately hurt the very organisation on which everyone depends.”
The NNDC is a diversified portfolio investment conglomerate owned by the 19 Northern states with investments in the agricultural, real estate, solid minerals, oil and gas, and hospitality sectors, among others. The current retreat represents the commencement of an organisational change process, driven by KPMG Professional Services, aimed at reinvigorating the company to enable it to deliver on its mandate and strengthen its future readiness.
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