In a scathing communiqué titled “Northern Nigeria’s Exclusion from Critical Road and Rail Infrastructure Funding: A National Failure Demanding Immediate Redress”, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has condemned the pattern of infrastructure funding under President Bola Tinubu as flagrantly biased against the North.
The Forum’s spokesperson, Prof Abubakar Jika Jiddere, decried what he described as “tokenistic” nods to the North—citing the ₦252 billion Abuja–Kano Expressway and the ₦18 billion Wusasa–Jos Road—against the backdrop of gargantuan allocations to Southern corridors.
The recent Federal Executive Council approval of N1.334 trillion for the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway underscores the imbalance.
That highway alone eclipses the combined road budgets for all Northern States, as does the ₦470.9 billion outlay for the Delta State section, the ₦148 billion earmarked for the Second Niger Bridge completion, and the ₦195 billion for Lagos–Ibadan Expressway Phase 2.
By contrast, the North-East—blighted by insurgency and underdevelopment—has not seen a single high-value road project approved in this tranche of funding, a point NEF underscores as both “systematic exclusion” and a national security risk.
This lopsidedness is neither new nor accidental. Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Northern regions have twice hosted fewer kilometres of dual carriageways per capita than their Southern counterparts, according to a BudgIT review of federal budgets.
The pattern has deepened under the Renewed Hope Agenda, with priorities skewed towards mega-projects along the coast and in Lagos, even as vital arteries in the North—such as Birnin Gwari–Ilorin and Minna–Bida—degrade into impassable tracks.
NEF’s dossier lists critical Northern highways left to rot: the Jalingo–Numan–Yola–Bama corridor, the Bauchi–Gombe trunk road, and the Gombe–Maiduguri line through Biu, Gombi, Mubi and Madagali.
In the North Central and North West, neglected routes include Kaduna–Jos via Saminaka and Kaduna–Minna via Sarkin Pawa.
These are lifelines for commerce, agriculture and unity; their collapse exacerbates poverty, fuels banditry and compounds displacement crises.
Rail infrastructure in the North has fared no better. The once-vibrant Eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri—a vital economic artery for both cargo and passengers—has lain dormant for well over a decade, operations having ceased some ten to fifteen years ago.
Meanwhile, the Lagos–Ibadan standard gauge and Warri–Itakpe lines enjoy robust capital injections.
A recent Cable analysis exposes that the National Assembly allocated N400 billion to light rail projects in Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna and Kano, yet made no provision for reviving the Eastern corridor.
The glaring disparity raises urgent questions. Why has the Nigerian Railway Corporation allowed the Northern network to rust into obsolescence?
Why are ambitious Southern rail expansions prioritised while Northern lines, with their vast geographic reach and potential to stimulate agro-industry, remain sidelined?
NEF demands that the Ministry of Transportation and NRC furnish a transparent roadmap, complete with timelines and funding sources, for the rehabilitation of every Northern rail line as a matter of national priority.
At the Federal level, the Senate itself has urged the inclusion of North-East roads in flagship “Super Highway” projects, following a motion by Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje.
That intervention noted only two modest projects for the entire North-East—Yola–Fufore–Gurin (₦11.81 billion) and Taraba’s Lamido Road (₦7.68 billion)—and decried the absence of major arteries such as Maiduguri–Baga and Maiduguri–Damaturu routes from the Renewed Hope agenda.
The North-Central region fares little better. Despite hosting the Federal Capital Territory and being the agricultural backbone of the nation, it has no dedicated development commission in the 2025 budget framework, even as five other zones received a cumulative N2.493 trillion.
As Peter Obi and the North-Central APC Forum have pointed out, the omission of a North-Central Development Commission spells injustice to millions affected by terror and banditry, who rely on stable roads for relief supplies and troop movements.
NEF’s demands are concise and unequivocal:
- Immediate inclusion of North-East road and rail projects in the national development portfolio.
- Public explanation from the Federal Ministry of Works and Nigerian Railway Corporation regarding the gross regional disparities in allocations.
- Binding commitment from Northern lawmakers, governors and ministers to veto any federal budget or policy that fails to ensure balanced, inclusive infrastructure development.
The choice is stark: equity or exclusion; unity or fracture. If Nigeria is to endure as one nation, no region—especially not its most vulnerable North—can be treated as expendable.
The Tinubu administration must heed this clarion call, lest the gulf between North and South yawns into permanent division and undermines both security and prosperity.
Additional reporting by Atlantic Post writers Suleiman Adamu & Peter Jene.
