President Bola Tinubu has announced that most beneficiaries, representing 78 per cent of the total beneficiaries of the N330 billion disbursed under the social protection program, were Northern region indigenes.
The President stated this in Abuja on Monday, during the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS) 2025, held in Abuja.
Tinubu, who was represented by Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, explained that the social safety net is being put in place alongside the major reforms to unlock the potential of the Nigerian economy, adding that the future of Nigeria’s prosperity is inseparable from the future of northern Nigeria.
According to President Tinubu, the government in the coming months will have completed 10 million, adding that the government by the end of the year expects to have a national social register that is world-class, robust, can be used time and time again, and will cover 15 million households, 75 million Nigerians.
“If we unlock the north’s minerals, we secure a new era of industrial competitiveness. If we unlock the north’s agriculture, we guarantee food security and global export leadership. If we unlock the north’s power, we ignite a wave of industrialisation that will employ millions of Nigerians.
“President Tinubu’s economic vision is to build a strong, stable and inclusive economy where government clears obstacles out of the way, where the private sector provides the engine of growth and where every Nigerian can rise.
” The north is not just a part of the country, it is the engine of the country. So together, let us seize this moment to transform northern Nigeria into the powerhouse of Nigeria’s prosperity,” he said.
Speaking on the theme for the Summit, : Unlocking Strategic Opportunities in Mining, Agriculture, and Power, Tinubu said these sectors do represent the backbone of Nigeria’s economy and indeed the foundation for industrialisation.
He noted that in the second quarter of 2025, April to June, the GDP of Nigeria grew by 4.23 percent, the strongest growth in a decade except for the COVID rebound era, the strongest growth in a decade.
“And since 2023, year-on-year growth has consistently been above 3 per cent, outpacing 2 per cent of the 5 to 8 years previously. More critically, industrial growth, where jobs are created, doubled year-on-year, while agriculture and services also expanded robustly. Inflation has begun to ease, 20.12 percent in August, and it’s consistently, month after month, the last five months have been coming down.
“Our trade surplus, $7.4 trillion, reserves have risen to $42 billion, and as we know, the Naira has not only stabilised, it has even strengthened. But this progress is not by chance. It is a result of deliberate, intentional, and strategic policies anchored on the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“And the Renewed Hope Agenda is anchored on economic transformation, inclusive growth, and national prosperity. But it recognises the interconnected roles of finance, public policy, technology, in unlocking Nigeria’s full potential. So the key focus areas have been stabilising the macroeconomic environment, creating jobs, reducing poverty, mobilising private sector investment, whether domestic, whether foreign, and driving inclusive, as our earlier speaker said, and focused on digital and financial innovation,” he said.
He said that it was against this policy framework that the government had a market correction, ending the costly subsidies and foreign exchange distortions, which benefited some, but left the majority in need, and even left the government without enough resources.
He explained that the government’s medium-term goal remains to double incomes and significantly reduce poverty. “Why is the Northern region central to the opportunities that lie ahead? Our agricultural self-sufficiency, our mining competitiveness, and our industrial base will largely rise or fall, depending on how we unlock the North’s potential,” he added.
