By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has raised serious concerns over what it described as the systematic exclusion of Northern Nigeria from critical federal infrastructure funding, particularly in road and railway projects.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, the NEF expressed dismay at what it called the lopsided distribution of capital projects, which it said heavily favors Southern Nigeria at the expense of the North especially the North East, the region most affected by terrorism and underdevelopment.
The group pointed out that while projects like the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway (₦1.34 trillion) and the Second Niger Bridge (₦148 billion) received significant allocations, Northern projects remain underfunded.
The NEF cited examples such as the Abuja–Kano Expressway (₦252 billion) and Wusasa–Jos Road (₦18 billion), describing them as insufficient and tokenistic.
The forum also decried the total neglect of critical highways in the North East, including the Jalingo–Numan–Yola–Bama Road and Bauchi–Gombe Road, as well as the near-collapse of the region’s rail infrastructure. It called attention to the moribund Port Harcourt–Maiduguri Eastern Rail Line, inactive for over a decade, while modern rail projects are largely concentrated in the South.
This exclusion, according to the group, is not only an infrastructural failure, it is a national threat, saying it risks deepening inequality, inflaming regional tensions, and undermining the unity of the Republic.”
The NEF demanded an immediate inclusion of Northern road and railway projects in the federal infrastructure portfolio, a public explanation from the Ministry of Works and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), and a binding commitment from Northern lawmakers
