By Nkechi Eze
The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has declared that the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is executing what he described as a historic and deliberate economic masterplan aimed at transforming Kano into the foremost regional hub for commerce, manufacturing, logistics and transnational trade in Nigeria and across West Africa.
In an official signed statement, the Special Adviser to the National Chairman of the APC on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, disclosed that Professor Yilwatda made the remarks in Abuja at the weekend, explaining that the Federal Government’s ongoing infrastructure and industrial investments across Kano and the wider Northern corridor are neither accidental nor isolated projects but part of a coordinated strategy to restore Kano to its historic status as the economic heartbeat of Northern Nigeria and one of Africa’s most strategic inland commercial centres.
According to the APC National Chairman, the Tinubu administration clearly recognises Kano’s strategic commercial position within Nigeria and the West African subregion.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not merely developing Kano; he is redesigning the economic future of Northern Nigeria through Kano. His administration understands clearly that Kano is the natural commercial nerve centre of the North and the gateway between Nigeria and the wider West African hinterland,” Yilwatda stated.
He explained that President Tinubu’s economic vision is to make Kano the largest business and industrial hub in Nigeria after Lagos, while positioning the city as the principal gateway for trade into the Sahel and Francophone West Africa.
Professor Yilwatda highlighted several landmark infrastructure projects currently being executed by the Federal Government which, according to him, are expected to transform Kano into a mega commercial city.
He noted that the government is fast-tracking the completion of the Kaduna–Kano standard gauge railway, a critical rail project that will link Kano directly to Abuja and Southern Nigeria through modern logistics infrastructure, significantly reducing the cost and time required for transporting goods and passengers. The railway line is expected to become operational this year.
He further explained that the Kano–Maradi rail line will connect Kano to Niger and the broader Sahel trade belt, opening vast export and import corridors into Francophone West Africa. The project, he said, will greatly expand Kano’s role as Nigeria’s principal inland export gateway, with completion targeted for 2026 or 2027.
The APC chairman also referenced the recently approved Kano Metropolitan Rail Service, which he said will modernise transportation within the Kano metropolis, ease congestion, improve logistics efficiency and support the city’s emergence as a modern mega-city.
He added that the AKK Gas Pipeline project will supply industrial gas to Kano and the wider Northern region, providing energy for factories, industrial parks, fertiliser plants and gas-fired power generation. According to him, the pipeline will help revive manufacturing and attract new industrial investments to the state.
Professor Yilwatda further stated that strategic investments in power generation and transmission across the Northern industrial belt, particularly along the Kaduna–Kano axis, are expected to improve electricity reliability and support large-scale industrialisation.
He also highlighted the ongoing rehabilitation and expansion of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano highway corridor, which he said will improve connectivity between Kano and other parts of the federation and enhance trade efficiency.
In addition, he noted that the proposed Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway will create a new economic corridor linking Northern agricultural belts to Southern export markets and seaports, thereby unlocking extensive business opportunities across the North-West.
Explaining the strategic reasoning behind the Federal Government’s investments, the APC chairman said Kano remains Northern Nigeria’s largest commercial ecosystem, hosting some of the biggest market and manufacturing clusters on the African continent.
He added that the city’s geographical location makes it Nigeria’s natural gateway to the Sahel region, facilitating trade with countries such as Niger, Chad and other Francophone West African states.
Professor Yilwatda also noted that reviving Kano’s historic strengths in textiles, leather production, agro-processing and commerce is essential to the broader industrial rebirth of Northern Nigeria.
According to him, the Tinubu administration is also determined to reduce Nigeria’s overdependence on Lagos by developing Kano into the country’s second major commercial powerhouse.
He argued that expanding commerce, industry and employment opportunities in Kano and the wider North is crucial to reducing poverty, unemployment and insecurity in the region.
Professor Yilwatda maintained that no previous administration had assembled what he described as such a comprehensive and interconnected infrastructure strategy for Northern Nigeria.
“Who before now conceived this scale of integrated development for the North: rail lines, gas pipelines, metropolitan transit, industrial power, superhighways and regional trade corridors, all designed to work together? This is vision. This is strategic leadership. This is what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is delivering,” he said.
The APC National Chairman also criticised opposition parties for what he described as their focus on insults, propaganda and power politics rather than national development.
“While President Tinubu is building the infrastructure backbone that will transform the North for generations, the opposition is busy chasing personal ambition and power for its own sake,” he said.
“They offer no ideas, no blueprint, no alternative vision. Their only manifesto is to insult the APC and attack every development initiative because they lack the capacity to think beyond politics.”
Professor Yilwatda expressed confidence that President Tinubu’s infrastructure and industrial strategy would fundamentally alter the economic trajectory of Northern Nigeria and reposition Kano as the undisputed economic capital of the region.
“History will remember President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the leader who restored Kano to greatness, industrialised the North, and built the infrastructure backbone for Nigeria’s next era of prosperity,” he added.
