Today’s Make Nigeria Better series takes us to Yobe State on the far northeastern fringes of Nigeria known as the Pride of the Sahel

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Yobe State is arguably the most arid state in Nigeria as its northern tip is in the sahel savannah, which as we all know borders the Sahara Desert. Those who nicknamed Yobe State the Pride of the Sahel, probably had in mind a scenario whereby its economy would be dominated by its climate and environment but alas, this is simply not happening as Yobe State does not have a booming Sahelian economy. If we can get peace to return to Yobe State, the sky is the limit

[2] For starters, being in the Sahel means lots of sunlight. Yobe is one of the largest states in Nigeria with a landmass of 45,502 square kilometres. It should thus be littered with solar farms that go on for miles and miles. Maybe for now, two mechanised divisions of the Nigerian Army need to be located in the state to protect them against terrorists and banditry

[3] Yobe’s urban centres like Damaturu, Potiskum, Geidam, Gujba, Nguru, Gashua and Kanamma should all have industrial estates where solar panel manufacturing factories are located. The state should be a one-stop shop clean energy provider, even distributing the electricity to neighbouring states

[4] Still on this climate matter, why is Yobe State not a major global producer of Sahelian crops like cotton, groundnuts, dates, millet, gum arabic, sorghum, guar gum, etc? They have all the land in the world for mega US-style prairies that will give a new meaning to the term commercial agriculture

[5] Were I the governor, I would float a Yobe State Food Company, taking out a minority stake in it and get it to process all these crops into finished food items. We would target the export markets of neighbouring West African states big time. I would make sure there is at least one branch of this company in each of our 17 local government areas

[6] Yobe State is also rich in solid minerals with large deposits of gypsum and kaolin in particular, which are available in commercial quantities in Fune Local Government Area. No doubt, the likes of Rio Tinto need to be invited in to prospect for these minerals with a processing plant opened in Damagum, the local government headquarters

[7] Livestock is another area in which Yobe State is a big player as it has one of the largest cattlemarkets in West Africa, located in Potiskum. I want to see Yobe State open one of the world’s largest cattle ranches in maybe say Bursari Local Government Area. Basically build a new town from scratch around it with a ranch, veterinary school, meat processing companies, a police station, a veterinary clinic, etc. Let it be so popular that every nomadic Fulani herdsman will want to settle there

[8] Were I elected as the Yobe State governor tomorrow I would launch the most audacious economic plan Nigeria has ever seen. Yobe is under threat from desertification so I would unveil a programme known as the Desert Economy Plan involving the widespread cultivation, processing and sale of cactus and cactus products

[9] Do you know that in 2021, Mexico generated $20m from the sale of cactus products. I would open cactus farms right across the northern tip of the state and them open a Yobe Cactus Processing Company in somewhere like Nguru to produce tequila, cactus soap, cactus cream, cactus meal, cactus dye, cactus herbs, etc. My target would be annual export revenue of $2bn

[10] Yobe State also has several tourist attractions including Gooya Valley, Ngazargamu, Dagona Birds Sanctuary, Gujba Forest Reserve and Dufuna canoe. They all need to be upgraded with hotels, bars, restaurants, amusement parks, etc all built around them. To do this, the security situation has to obviously improve dramatically