Nigeria's once thriving industrial north waits for Buhari's revival plan

Local leather tannery

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari wants to revive Kano's ancient trading hub and end the pattern of spending focused on exploring oil in the south. But despite the non-stop talk of diversifying the economy away from oil almost nothing has happened as the government has yet to unveil a strategy on how to rebuild industries such as leather which once thrived in Kano.
The decline of Kano is a showcase for the decades-long failure of authorities that enjoyed easy oil money to support its once booming leather and textile industries, which has left the Muslim north poor and helped Boko Haram recruit unemployed youth during its seven-year insurgency.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, wants to revive the former industrial heartland in the north and end the country's dependency on oil revenues, now dwindling due to a slump in crude prices.
The army has recaptured most of the northern territory lost initially to the jihadist group, which has allowed trade routes within Nigeria and its neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon to slowly reopen.
But despite non-stop talk of building up industries outside the oil sector, little has happened since Buhari got elected in March 2015 on a ticket to "fix" the West African nation hit by mismanagement and graft.
The government will only later this month unveil concrete plans to develop the country, leaving the few remaining entrepreneurs in the ghost-town like industrial park in Kano alone to deal with a severe economic crisis.
Businessmen see little room to expand with still chronic power and water shortages, which have crippled manufacturing for years.
The slow start of Buhari's administration has delayed a World Bank to help rebuild northern areas "liberated" from Boko Haram because authorities have been unable to tell its experts what they want them to do.
Dragging the north out of poverty is key to keeping disenchanted youth from joining Boko Haram that seeks to set up an Islamist state.

Pictures courtesy Seun Sanni