Opinion

From Cementing Poverty To Oiling Its Wheels ?

Published

3 years ago

June 9, 2023

President Bola Ahmad Tinubu

Hamisu Hadejia,PhD

Endowed with vast deposits of limestones, ‘why would Nigeria be spending millions of dollars importing cement from abroad?’. This was the question that agitated the mind of Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) in the early 2000s, leading to the former president summoning the major cement importer at the time, Mr Aliko Dangote, to brainstorm on sorting out the puzzle.

A policy seeking to incentivise cement importers to start local cement manufacture, known as the backward integration policy (BIP), was consequently introduced in 2002, following the private conversations between OBJ and Dangote.

As a sectoral industrial policy, the BIP made the grant of cement import licenses conditional on cement importers demonstrating concrete commitment to set up local cement producing factories. The strategy was to phase out, before completely banning, cement importation when local factories could produce enough to replace imports—a strategy known in economics as ‘import substitution policy’.

Among other incentives, the BIP ensured the sales of foreign exchange (dollars) to cement entrepreneurs especially Dangote at the official rate. For example, in a Reuters report, Dangote was said to have secured $161 million at the official exchange rate (of between 197 to 199 NGN per 1 USD) from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between March and May 2016. If Dangote were to (and he could without any accountability) re-sell this $161 million foreign exchange award in the currency black market, he would have made a profit of $100 million (£68 million) without lifting a finger. Thus, effectively, what this means is that just in a couple of months, the Nigerian government had subsidized Dangote to the tune of $100 million US dollars with taxpayers’ money, under the guise of supporting ‘strategic’ businesses.

Not only that, VAT/custom duty waivers on imported cement making equipment, credit guarantees, and a cumulative tax holidays of seven years were granted to Dangote Cement Companies (DCC).

Government’s support to infant firms, industries or entrepreneurs is not a new phenomenon in nations’ industrialization processes. Economists such as Alexandre Hamilton (1757-1804), Friedrich List (1789-1846), and contemporary ones like Ha-Joon Chang and Eric Reinert, have documented evidence confirming that these kinds of supports or state-business relations were instrumental to the industrialization of almost all industrialized nations of Europe, North America, and East Asia. However, the state-business relations in Nigeria especially in the cement industry deserves some critical reflections and re-evaluations for social welfare considerations.

THE PROS OF THE BIP

Within a little over a decade, the BIP succeeded in replacing cement imports with local production in Nigeria leading to the complete ban on importation of cement in 2012. Hence, government officials and industry players have never failed to flaunt the BIP policy as a national feat all patriotic Nigerians should celebrate. The bases for this conclusion are three: One, the policy has made Nigeria self-sufficient in cement production; two, it has created jobs opportunities; three, it saves Nigeria foreign exchange which, at the peak of import in 2008, was $304 million. While these ‘successes’ have been belaboured time and again, Nigerians have been deliberately left in the dark as to the costs of these achievements, which include, but are not limited to, the disproportionately lavish state incentives to cement investors as adumbrated above.

THE CONS OF THE BIP

The ban on cement imports and the dominance of a single player in Dangote gave rise to a monopoly, now duopoly, in the cement industry. Latching on to the opportunity, Dangote has used every trick in the book to initially eliminate competition (e.g., the case of Clestus Ibeto), charge exorbitant prices, and pay the state less than its due in taxes. Any evidence for these claims? Yes, there are plenty! For a start, it is a fact that the Nigerian cement consumers now buy a 50kg bag of cement at almost $10 (official rate). This is outrageously higher than what obtains in other markets including in many African countries, to some of which Dangote merely exports the clinkers he processes in Nigeria using Nigeria’s limestones for final processing and sales in those countries at prices lower than he sells in Nigeria! In fact, compared to its price in Nigeria, a 50kg bag of cement costs lower in China ($2.96), Malaysia ($2.3), India ($3.84), Kenya ($5.56), Zambia ($6.45), Egypt ($2.88), South Africa ($5.88), and Ghana ($7.0).

Also, some evidence suggests that the Nigerian state does not get actual value for the lavish incentives it splashes on Dangote. In the DCC’s 2016 annual report (p.139) for example, the company’s own independent auditors have pointed out that the company’s directors had made an ‘assumption’ about the pioneer statuses of different lines of productions at Ibese and Obajana factories. Without this ‘assumption’, the auditors concluded that:
“..an additional tax charge of N64.4 billion (2015: N40.0 billion) would have been incurred by the company if this assumption was not made in determining the tax liability.”

So, while the Nigerian state has subsidised Dangote generously, such efforts do not appear to have yielded benefits for both the state (which is not paid what is due to her in taxes) and Nigerian cement consumers (who buy cement at over 300% price differentials compared to other consumers elsewhere).

Moreover, with the cement manufacturing process being highly mechanised, the much-vaunted jobs created by the transformation of the industry is, in the final analysis, not worth the costs incurred from subsidization and the expensive cement prices Nigerians pay. For instance, the entire cement industry currently employs only around 30,000 workers directly, and most of these workers are truck drivers. Hence, it does not make any economic sense for Nigeria to, in a bid to keep a few thousand Nigerians in employment, sacrifice national housing needs/infrastructural development by forcing millions of Nigerians to pay extortionary cement prices. Dangote and other players in the industry cannot of course claim credit for the indirect jobs in the downstream retail segment of the industry because such jobs have been there and would still remain regardless of whether cement in produced locally or imported.

But how has Dangote managed to ‘cement’ his cake and eat it? The answer to this crucial question lies in understanding the nature of two domains of relations, that is: The Dangote-government relations as well as his public or civil society management relations.

Dangote-state relations took off in earnest towards the end of the OBJ first term, that is around the time the BIP was introduced. In his book, ‘The Accidental Public Servant’, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, explained that Dangote came close to the OBJ government after the former president had fallen out with his powerful vice and major Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) financier at the time, Atiku Abubakar. Consequently, according to El-Rufai, “Obasanjo had to resort to raising money from other sources and that was how Aliko Dangote came into prominence in the government.”

A document from the US embassy in Nigeria leaked by Wikileaks would later reveal that “Dangote purportedly contributed 200 million naira (about $1.5 million at the time) to Obasanjo’s first term election campaign, and in 2003 at least another 1 billion naira (about USD 7.5millio) for the second term. Dangote is a known contributor to the PDP party.” The cable therefore concluded that, ‘it is no coincidence that many products on Nigeria’s import ban lists are items in which Dangote has major interests.’ Former President Yar’Adua of blessed memory saw through this kind of Dangote’s much-vaunted ‘entrepreneurial acumen’ and moved to free poor Nigerian cement consumers from the monopolistic exploitation before the cold hands of death cut him short. Ever since, the business continues with successive regimes securely holding the cement cash cow by the horns for Africa’s ‘entrepreneurial guru’ to milk in exchange for God knows what.

It is instructive to point out here that across the globe, investment in the cement industry takes between 20-30 years to deliver returns. However, in Dangote’s case, returns were delivered in less than a decade. To be clear, no one should begrudge Dangote his fundamental economic right to capital accumulation, however, such private economic right should also not be enjoyed at the social cost of denying Nigerians their fundamental right to housing through extortionary pricing of a product that their own state subsidizes, disproportionate to the social benefits for that matter.

Also, across the globe, profit margins in cement companies range between 30-40%, yet, in Nigeria it is up to 63%! This is because a couple of Nigerians gifted with ‘entrepreneurial acumen’ have the wherewithal to ‘lobby’ state officials to protect the market for them to charge whatever price they fancy. In a paper, Richard Itaman and Christina Wolf calculated that between 1999 and 2010, when cement import was severely restricted before its eventual ban, the Nigerian cement consumers, on average, lost N19.63 billion (that is, around $51.4 million in 2021 USD/Naira value) per year because of buying cement at exorbitant prices compared to the rest of the world. In fact, during the same period, Richard and Christina observed that cement prices had progressively increased by up to 300%.

In addition to ‘lobbying’ the political leadership, Dangote, as investigations by Michael Odijie and Anthony Onofua reveal, ensures the extraction of massive rents in the industry without any opposition from any quarters through his patron-clientelist relations with, and alleged infiltration of, trade/labour union and public/civil society organizations. The authors observed that Dangote generously ‘donate’ to the activities of these civil society groups with a view to ‘promoting the [BIP] policy as a major success.’. The authors stated that he installed his allies in the leadership of critical trade organizations such as the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN). Incessant ‘donations’ and yearly ‘gifts’ to such organizations as the National Association of Block Moulders of Nigeria and Trade Union Congress have also been attributed to silencing the voices of comrades who were hitherto vehement campaigners against extortionary cement pricing. Michael and Anthony have also observed trends in the co-optation of the media to popularise the narrative that local cement manufacturing is a collective national ‘success’.

THE WAY FORWARD

The new administration of President Bola Tinubu will do well by moving in the interest of impoverished Nigerians to address this cement issue decisively. Nigeria should not continue to protect a couple of producers at the expense of millions of Nigerian cement consumers. According to former minister of finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, ‘the Federal Government will require about $100 billion annually for the next 30 years to effectively tackle Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges.’ Also, the United Nations remarked that “Nigeria’s housing sector is in a complete crisis”. Undoubtedly, a critical part of addressing these challenges/crises is by making cement prices affordable to Nigerians. How can this be done? In my view, since the cement producers have been protected and subsidized for longer and larger than necessary, it is time for the cement market to be completely liberalized to allow for imports. This will facilitate competition which will beat prices down and ease the excruciating economic hardship of Nigerians. This is elementary economics. Even if local manufacturers who have been mollycoddled for over a decade fail to compete, so be it! The social benefits of suspending the long imports ban far outweigh the largely private benefits of sustaining it. The benefits of promoting indigenous private capital accumulation or keeping less than 30,000 largely truck-drivers’ jobs are not worth making millions of Nigerians homeless in their own fatherland. So, President Tinubu has a choice to make between appeasing a couple of capitalists/cronyists or salvaging millions of poor Nigerians who have no roof over their heads.
Dangote’s refinery: Like cement, like oil?
In celebrating the construction/commissioning of “world’s largest single-train petroleum refinery” without asking some critical questions, we, Nigerians, appear to have given in more to our sentiment than to our rationality. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who according to Dangote “moved mountains to ensure the success of [his refinery] project”, the apex bank ensured the availability of foreign exchange to Dangote to pay for equipment imported for his $19.5 billion refinery. What amounts of this scarce foreign exchange was sold to Dangote? What other monetary and fiscal incentives have been provided to the entrepreneur for the refinery project, and under what terms and conditions? Will all imports of refined oil and assorted products henceforth be banned for Dangote to enjoy another monopoly status in the oil industry, like he does in cement with all its concomitant consequences? Is the 20% Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s stakes in Dangote’s refinery a bait, decoy, or marriage of convenience to attract state patronage for profiteering business as usual?
Hamisu Hadejia (PhD)

Opinion

Kano’s War On Drugs: How Barr. Muhyi’s Taskforce Is Changing The Game

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Muhammad Abubakar Suleiman

When Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf declared a public health emergency on drug abuse on July 22, 2026, and inaugurated the Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, many in Kano saw it as another committee. Three months later, the committee led by Barrister Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado is dominating security headlines in the state.

The Taskforce was constituted as a multi-agency platform bringing together NDLEA, Police, DSS, Consumer Protection Council, Pharmaceutical Society, Ministry of Health, Anti-Daba Unit and other stakeholders. Dr. Ibrahim Garba Muhammad serves as Secretary.

From Raids to Results: Over 400 Arrests

According to briefings by the Chairman, within the first two months the Taskforce arrested more than 380 suspects and secured over 230 convictions. By September 29, when Barr. Muhyi spoke at the Kano Network of NGOs (KANET) Monthly Lecture at Nasarawa GRA, the figure had risen to over 400 arrests.

Presenting its scorecard to the State Executive Council in late September, the Taskforce reported a 35% reduction in drug-related crimes in the last three months, attributing it to intensified enforcement, seizures and over 500 convictions as of October 22.

Operations have focused on identified hotspots: Race Course, Filin Idi, Filin Mahaha, Tashar Rami, Kawo, Tashar Rimi, Jakara, Madigawa, Yalwa, Sanka, Kul Kul, Dogon Nama and Kukar Bulukiya.

Recoveries include Cannabis Sativa, Tramadol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, Pregabalin, Exol-5 and a Methamphetamine-based designer drug. In one case, 870,000 capsules of Pregabalin were seized from a pharmaceutical company over suspected diversion. Local weapons – knives, daggers, cutlasses and clubs – used by gangs were also recovered.

The Taskforce also recorded high-profile arrests. On August 18, it announced the arrest of a former Chairman of Rogo Local Government for allegedly selling and administering fentanyl injections to youths, after a victim who spent over N2 million on injections identified him.

Latest: Gang Sponsor Tracked to Port Harcourt

In its most recent operation, the Taskforce announced on October 30 the arrest of a 27-year-old suspected gang violence sponsor, Ishaq Lawan Ibrahim, popularly known as Malam Keya, from Yalwa in Dala LGA.

According to the committee, Malam Keya was allegedly financing violent clashes by rival Daba gangs in Dala that claimed lives. He fled to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after crackdown intensified, but was tracked and arrested in an operation led by Head of Operations, CSP Bashir Gwadabe, and brought back to Kano. He is now in police custody pending prosecution.

Chairman Muhyi said the arrest outside Kano shows the Taskforce will pursue suspects beyond state boundaries.

Beyond Enforcement: Children, Rehabilitation and Technology

The committee says its mandate is not just enforcement. It reported rescuing 43 underage children allegedly exposed to intoxicants and convicting two dealers – Kabiru Isa and Usman Hamisu – for the offence. About 125 persons were referred to the Kano Reformatory Institute in Kiru for rehabilitation. With Kiru overstretched, government has provided an additional facility in Tofa.

The Taskforce has set an ambitious target of taking 10,000 youths off the streets for rehabilitation, skills acquisition and reintegration.

On August 21, Barr. Muhyi inaugurated nine sub-committees to professionalize the fight: Finance; Media and Publicity; Advocacy and Sensitisation; Licences, Inventory and Verification; Compliance, Inspection and Electronic Tracking; Monitoring and Implementation; Intelligence; Reformative and Traditional Council; and Anti-Drug Coordination.

Tech Turn: AI, 24-Hour Line and NDLEA Support

In the last two weeks, the Taskforce unveiled a new approach. On October 22, Barr. Muhyi, on behalf of Governor Yusuf, donated operational equipment to the NDLEA Kano Strategic Command led by Commander Dahiru Yahaya Lawan, to boost operations.

He also disclosed that Kano is deploying Artificial Intelligence for surveillance and tracking of suspected dealers, and equipping a rapid-response centre with ICT and a 24-hour toll-free line where residents can report and get response within 30 minutes.

At KANET lecture themed “Kano Drugs Crisis: Challenges, the Way Forward and the Role of the Community,” Muhyi stressed community intelligence and called for more rehabilitation to decongest remand homes.

No Sacred Cows

From day one, Barr. Muhyi has maintained a hard line on political interference. “No politician can pressure me to free drug suspects. The only person who can stop me is the Governor, and I know he will never interfere,” he told journalists on July 28.

That stance, coupled with intelligence-led raids, has earned the Taskforce both praise and scrutiny.

The Bigger Picture

Kano Police data cited by the Taskforce indicates about 70% of major crimes in 2025 were linked to drug abuse. The Executive Order outlawing Daba gangs provides a minimum of five years imprisonment under Section 97A of the Kano Penal Code.

Whether the Taskforce can sustain momentum will depend on three tests: securing the drug supply chain from pharmaceutical diversion, expanding rehabilitation beyond Kiru, and maintaining inter-agency cooperation without becoming a parallel enforcement body.

For now, in the markets of Filin Idi and the streets of Dala, residents say the presence of the committee is being felt.

Opinion

The Reward For Hardwork Is More Work: A Rejoinder To Dr Garba Ubale Danbatta

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Nworisa Michael

The redeployment of Hon. Comr. Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya PhD from the Ministry of Information and Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has attracted several reactions. While professional and civic organisations have congratulated him and acknowledged his contributions, Dr Garba Ubale Danbatta, a supposedly veteran journalist, has chosen to use the development to question his performance and professional conduct in his former ministry.

Dr Danbatta is entitled to his opinion. Nobody should be above criticism, especially in public office. However, when criticism is presented as a professional assessment, it should be supported by facts, not merely personal convictions or years of experience.

Before concluding that journalism suffered under Waiya, perhaps we should examine some of the developments recorded during his tenure.

Eight contributions worth considering:

• Grassroots information: Strengthened engagement with Information Officers across Kano’s 44 local government areas and eight zonal offices.

• Capacity building: Supported training programmes for local government Information Officers, alongside interactive engagements with editors and news managers.

• Media policy: Facilitated the inauguration of an 18-member committee to develop a media and information policy framework for Kano State.

• Digital transformation: Established a Digital Multimedia Department to modernise government communication, improve digital engagement and address misinformation.

• Peacebuilding: Advanced the Safe Corridor Project, an initiative focused on rehabilitation, skills development and reintegration of reformed youths.

• Media engagement: Engaged media practitioners, online publishers and political programme presenters on responsible public communication and professional conduct.

• Institutional development: Pursued interventions aimed at strengthening state-owned media institutions and improving the capacity of personnel within the information machinery.

• National recognition: Received the Crisis Communicator of the Year award at the 2026 National Spokespersons Awards in Abuja.

These developments do not mean that Waiya’s tenure was without shortcomings. They simply demonstrate that there is more to his record than the sweeping conclusion offered by his critic.

There is also something interesting about the public reactions to his redeployment. The Kano State Forum of Information Officers, Northern Youths Assembly and International Peace and Secure Society are among the organisations that have publicly acknowledged his contributions and congratulated him on his new assignment. Their statements may not settle every debate about his tenure, but they show that his work was not viewed negatively by everyone who interacted with his ministry.

Now, to Dr Danbatta’s presentation of his professional experience.

I found it rather curious that a commentary intended to assess another public officer’s performance devoted three of its concluding paragraphs to the author’s own professional journey, positions held and years of experience. One could almost finish reading the piece knowing more about the author’s resume than the evidence behind his criticism of Waiya.

Same individual who has been unable to ensure good working relationship with his staffs at Pyramid Radio Kano where is currently serves as its manager, a station that constantly runs out of diesel and goes off the air, perhaps even he isn’t proud of this hence he left it out from the list of his workplaces listed.

With due respect, professional experience is valuable, but it should strengthen an argument, not become the argument itself. A good product sells itself. A journalist’s professional standing should be reflected in the quality, fairness and depth of their analysis. Thirty years in the profession deserves recognition, but it does not automatically make every opinion conclusive.

If the intention was to assess Waiya’s stewardship, then the more important questions should have been: What did he inherit? What did he change? Which initiatives did he introduce? What measurable outcomes were achieved? And where did he fall short? Those are the questions that give criticism substance.

We can be safe to say that Waiya’s redeployment was a direct reward for his performance in the former ministry. The Governor has publicly explained the cabinet adjustments as part of efforts to strengthen institutions and improve service delivery. What is evident, however, is that Waiya has been entrusted with another important responsibility, and his record in the former ministry remains open to public examination.

The Ministry of Information and Internal Affairs is not beyond criticism, and neither is Dr. Waiya. But fairness requires that we acknowledge the work done alongside the shortcomings alleged.

Frankly the most fitting way to understand this new assignment is captured in the title of this piece: the reward for hard work is more work. His previous assignment is now part of his public record; his new ministry presents another opportunity to serve.

Congratulations, Hon. Comr. Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya. The expectations continue.

Nworisa Michael is a
Writer, Public Affairs Commentator and writes from nworisamichael1917@gmail.com
1st Nov. 2026

Opinion

My Achievements At Kano State Ministry of Environment — By Dr. Dahir M. Hashim

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

Looking back on my time at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, one change I value most is how the public came to see the sector itself. Environmental protection became a stronger part of conversations about our health, neighbourhoods, livelihoods, and Kano’s future. People increasingly joined the work, supported our programmes, and held us accountable.

For that, I thank the people of my dear state.

This journey began for me on 6 January 2025, when His Excellency, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Executive Governor of Kano State, entrusted me with the responsibility of leading the Ministry.

The challenges were clear. Facilities had deteriorated, policies needed updating, enforcement was weak, and frontline workers were owed outstanding payments. Yet His Excellency saw what the Ministry could become and gave us the support to begin rebuilding it.

Our government-owned nurseries tell part of that story. Eight facilities that had become non-functional were fully rehabilitated, restoring our capacity to produce seedlings locally. Building on the administration’s three-million-tree planting programme in 2024, the programme grew to five million in 2025 and ten million in 2026, with all seedlings raised in government-owned nurseries. Behind those numbers was the recovery of public facilities that could continue serving Kano for years to come.

The same determination guided the restoration of the Kano State Pollution Control Laboratory. We renovated, equipped, and recommissioned it, giving the State the scientific capacity to test, monitor pollution, and support enforcement. We operationalised the Environmental Pollution Control Law and developed the Environmental Pollution and Waste Control Regulations to give that work a stronger legal foundation.

At REMASAB, reforms improved the coordination of waste collection, evacuation, and disposal. Waste management became more organised and responsive, with operations supporting the evacuation of approximately one million metric tonnes of waste. The Dorayi Compost Plant was also brought back into operation, restoring the capacity to turn organic waste into useful compost and creating opportunities for investment.

Across flood-prone communities, we undertook drainage construction, clearance and erosion control. The stormwater harvesting intervention in Toranke and work on the Kano State Drainage Master Plan formed part of our effort to move towards better protection and long-term planning.

We also restored four public parks, with more underway. Spaces that had suffered neglect were given new management arrangements and a clear responsibility for maintenance. Families now have more welcoming places to spend time together, while the parks’ combined annual revenue increased from around ₦5 million to ₦90 million.

Alongside these projects, we rebuilt the policy foundations of the sector. We developed the Kano State Climate Change Policy, its implementation plan and results framework; advanced the Climate Change Bill; and reviewed the Forestry Law after more than five decades. We also developed the Climate Finance Reform Action and Implementation Plan and the Green Bond Framework to prepare Kano for environmental and climate investment.

Kano’s third-place finish in the just-concluded 2026 Climate Governance Performance Ranking, and the opportunity to present our work at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, gave us reasons to be thankful. They also reminded us how far consistent support and collective effort could take the state.

None of this work could have continued without the people delivering it every day. With His Excellency’s backing, we cleared nine months of salary arrears for 2,369 verified street sweepers and doubled their stipends, re-engaged inspectors and forest guards, and doubled the stipends of 875 sanitation vanguards. I remain grateful for their service.

Today, as His Excellency separates the ministries and appoints a new Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, my strongest feeling is gratitude.

To His Excellency, thank you for trusting me with this responsibility, listening to our proposals and supporting the decisions needed to carry them through.

To our staff and agencies, community leaders, development partners, civil society organisations, young volunteers, businesses and residents: thank you for standing with us. Your participation, patience and constructive criticism helped us improve. These achievements belong to everyone who contributed.

I congratulate the incoming Honourable Commissioner and offer my full cooperation to sustain the work we began together.

Serving the people of Kano State in this capacity has been a privilege. Thank you for the trust and support.

Dr. Dahir M. Hashim, Honourable Commissioner
Ministry of Water Resources, Kano State, writes from Kano.