Tinubu Rolls Out Industrial Policy 2025, Says ‘Factories — Not Files — Will Measure Success’

By: Oluwaseun Lawal

Big hall. Bright lights. Bold promises.

On Tuesday in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu formally unveiled Nigeria’s Industrial Policy 2025, describing it as a practical roadmap to rebuild the country’s industrial backbone. Represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, the president charged ministries and agencies to move fast. No delays.

For years, he said, Nigeria has struggled with broken value chains, high production costs, weak infrastructure, and policies that shift too often. Coordination between government and industry? Not always steady. That, he argued, must change.

“Industrialisation is not a wish,” he noted. It is action. And it requires alignment — energy, trade, infrastructure, finance, skills, innovation. Everything working together, not in silos.

According to Tinubu, the strength of the new policy lies in execution. Not paperwork. Not speeches. Success, he said, will be measured by factories opening at dawn, by jobs created for young Nigerians, by exports leaving the ports stamped “Made in Nigeria.” Real outputs.

The policy focuses on sectors where Nigeria has comparative advantages. It pushes for deeper value addition — moving from exporting raw materials to producing finished goods. It places micro, small and medium enterprises at the centre of growth, while linking infrastructure and energy directly to industrial goals. Because, as he put it, factories cannot run on policy alone.

He commended the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Enoh, for steering the process, alongside technical teams and private sector contributors who shaped the document.

Business leaders were present. Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, welcomed the initiative, calling it progressive. He argued that Nigeria’s private sector is stronger than the government’s economic footprint — a rare situation in Africa. According to him, investors are showing renewed interest, citing exchange rate stability and ongoing reforms. He even projected that the naira could appreciate to ₦1,000 per dollar this year.

But Dangote added a caveat. Protection matters. Without safeguarding indigenous industries, he warned, growth may struggle.

So now the document is launched. The harder part begins — implementation. Whether this becomes another policy on a shelf, or a turning point, will depend on what happens next. Factories will tell.