Aliko Dangote who spoke at the 4th edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KadInvest 4.0) in Kaduna on Wednesday, blasted state Governors who according to him are responsible for the high poverty rate in Northern Nigeria.Aliko Dangote who is Africa’s richest man, blasted Northern Nigeria state governors who he accused doing little to end the high poverty rate in the region. He noted that 60 per cent of northerners lived in extreme poverty, saying it was unacceptable for a people with vast arable land for agriculture to live in poverty.

According to him: “Nigeria is ranked at 157th out of 189 countries on the human development index. While the overall socio-economic condition in the country is a cause for concern, the regional disparities are in fact very alarming. In the North Western and North Eastern parts of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty.

“It is instructive to know that the 19 Northern states which accounts for over 54 per cent of Nigeria’s population and 70 per cent of its landmass, collectively generate, only 21 per cent of the total subnational IGR in the year 2017. Northern Nigeria will continue to fall behind if the respective states governments do not move to close the development gap.

“And that is why we are always saying the biggest challenge that we have and what we have been praying for is to have 10 governors like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to move the northern Nigeria forward. Closing the gap requires multi years investment and government will not be able to raise the require capital funding, only the private sector can raise the capital to fund the level of investment that this country needs.”

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