The chairman, senate committee on local content, Mrs Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan said some northern stakeholders were Jittery over the tax reform bills because the region was ill-preparedness for such fiscal coup.
The legislator representing Kogi Central in the senate bared her mind on the matter in a statement by her spokesman, Mr Arogbonlo Israel.
The senator who spoke at ‘The Sardauna Memorial Day’ held in Kaduna, urged the northerners to embrace the vision of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, who, according to her, led the region to prosperity in the 1950s.
She highlighted the importance of education and cultural preservation to achieve the envisaged economic transformation.
Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that in 1959, Nigeria’s groundnut export to the UK was valued at £27 million, equivalent of N3.6 trillion today, while current groundnut exports were only $3 million.
“The only reason why the north is jittery about the Tax Reform Bills is because we are ill-prepared. If we were generating N3.6 trillion from one agricultural product, would we be bothered about the reforms?
“Hence, we must task our leaders with developmental mind-sets to stir up the entrepreneurial ecosystems so our lands and factories can be productive once again.
“Let’s act from a position of economic abundance for our region and country at large,” she said.
She urged collaboration among northern leaders and civil society to achieve those goals.
“In 1959, Nigeria groundnut export to United Kingdom alone stood at £27 million, which has an equivalent purchasing power of N3.6 trillion today.
“The residue from the groundnut’s oil extraction was also exported to the UK as livestock feeds. Today, Nigeria’s groundnut exports sit at distant $3 million.
“The northern Nigeria’s cotton industry shaped the Liverpool cloth market in London, UK, between the 50s and 70s, while the Kaduna Textile Mill flourished, creating thousands of jobs.
“Today, the cotton industry in Nigeria is pretty much non-existent while this same industry generates $21 billion annually. That’s the thriving economy Sardauna helped create and left for us to improve upon,” she added.
