Is Northern Nigeria Freeloading on the South?
It is rather shortsighted to think that Northern Nigeria contributes little to national development, and it eats away at the fabric of our national unity to even verbalise such thoughts, especially when you are a person of influence,… pic.twitter.com/OFQ8n1oIYl
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) December 19, 2025
Is Northern Nigeria Freeloading on the South?
It is rather shortsighted to think that Northern Nigeria contributes little to national development, and it eats away at the fabric of our national unity to even verbalise such thoughts, especially when you are a person of influence, such as a clergyman or politician.
If Northern Nigeria were not a part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, how much do you think we would pay for food in Southern Nigeria?
Let’s take a plate of rice.
Of the 9.08 million metric tonnes of rice produced in Nigeria, 7.28 million metric tonnes were sown in the North, with only 1.8 million metric tonnes grown in the South.
Over 75% of the 3.1 million tonnes of tomatoes harvested in Nigeria come from the North. Ditto for pepper.
The situation is even more unbalanced when you take livestock, particularly cattle, which we rely on for most of our animal protein intake, into account.
A shocking 90% of cattle on the hoof and 70% of sheep and goats come from Northern Nigeria.
So, when you eat a plate of rice, you have Arewa to thank for much of it.
But then you may say you pay for it. True! True. But do you know how much more you would have paid for it if Northern Nigeria were a separate country and you had to pay duties, as well as other customs and excise taxes? You would probably be paying double!
The fact that you in Southern Nigeria enjoy a plate of rice for the price you pay is down to the absence of import tax on the components that go into it.
Do you see how debilitating physical insecurity is? Now imagine food insecurity!
And then some people will say things like, “How come Niger-Delta oil is for all of us but Zamfara gold is for Zamfara?”
Actually, that is a false premise!
Ever since the Unification of Assets Decree Number 34 of Tuesday, May 24, 1966, all minerals in Nigeria, including bitumen in places like Ondo, gold in states like Zamfara, and tin in areas like Plateau, are legally the property of the Federal Government—the same as oil.
The Nigerian state hardly prospect for or mine its minerals itself. Instead, licences are traditionally given to foreign and domestic companies to do that and pay royalties to the Federal Government.
So, when you see legal mining in Zamfara or other states, please do not make the mistake of thinking that those states licence the miners or that they pay royalties to the state government.
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development regulates non-oil mineral mining.
But just as you have oil theft and oil bunkering in the Niger-Delta (which has dramatically reduced), you also have illegal mining, which exists in both the North and the South.
Do you remember the Ibadan explosion in January 2024? Illegal miners caused it. They carelessly stored explosives in a residential district.
It is a figment of anybody’s imagination to think that minerals in Southern Nigeria belong to the Federal Government while those in the North belong to state governments.
Look, maybe gas has more staying power, but a time will come when oil will be obsolete. As you read this, there are about 20 million barrels of African crude oil looking for buyers.
Oil has a shelf life. But food is always a necessity commodity! Think long and hard on this.
Much of the discontent heating the polity stems from audacious ignorance, and that is why you should first verify before you amplify, as President Tinubu counselled earlier this year.
There is no part of Nigeria that is not contributing to our collective development. The reason you may not see it is because of the part of the elephant that you see, which may make you misconstrue it for another type of animal.