North’s OPS wants Buhari to tackle depopulation of industries

The organised private sector (OPS) in the northern part of the country wants the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the growing incidence of de-population of industries in the region.

The players particularly want the administration of Buhari to implement various initiatives conceived by the previous administrations geared at reactivating the textile industries that shut shop in Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, and other northern states. Also, they want the incoming regime to fully actvate and revitalise the mining and agricultural sectors, where the region has comparative advantages.

Suleiman Umar Tofa, chairman, Bompai branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), one of the active arms of the OPS in northern state of Kano, said the body wants these issues tackled because of the tremendous impact such move will have on peace and orderly development of the region.

Tofa, who is also the managing director of Tofa Textile Limited, situated in the commercial city, noted the reactivation of these sectors would go a long way in checking the mounting incidence of poverty fueling insecurity in most northern states.

“The expectation of most of us who are players in the nation’s economic sphere from the northern part of the country is that we want the incoming Buhari presidency to do everything possible to reactivate the textile industry which before now is the driver of economic development in the region.

“The other areas that we want focused on are mining and agricultural develop- ment, the two major sectors which are the biggest em- ployment generators in the region”, he stated.