Featured

Social Cohesion: The Hidden Driver of Nigeria’s Growth

Published

3 months ago

June 19, 2026

Joel Ajayi

As Nigeria confronts complex challenges ranging from insecurity and economic inequality to youth unemployment and political tension, experts and policymakers are increasingly identifying one critical factor that could shape the country’s future—social cohesion.

Beyond economic reforms and policy adjustments, analysts argue that strengthening trust among citizens, and between citizens and government, may prove decisive for Nigeria’s long-term stability and development.

Across the country, discussions around unity, identity, and shared national values have moved beyond academic circles into mainstream policy conversations. A growing body of research, including findings from the Africa Polling Institute (API), suggests that a nation’s internal bonds significantly influence its ability to grow, attract investment, and sustain peace.

Social cohesion refers to the willingness of individuals and groups within a society to cooperate, trust one another, and work collectively toward shared goals.

In Nigeria, this means strengthening national identity, improving trust in public institutions, encouraging civic participation, and ensuring equitable access to opportunities.

Development experts maintain that sustainable progress cannot be achieved without these foundations. Where trust is weak, policies often fail, public institutions lose credibility, and communities become fragmented along ethnic, religious, and political lines.

Analysts believe many of Nigeria’s pressing challenges—including insecurity, poverty, and uneven economic growth—are not solely economic or structural problems but also symptoms of weakened social cohesion.

At the centre of social cohesion lies trust. Experts envision a future Nigeria where citizens have stronger confidence in government institutions, while governments increasingly rely on citizen engagement to shape policy decisions.

When trust exists, policies are more likely to succeed because citizens willingly participate in implementation. However, when trust breaks down, even well-designed policies can face resistance, apathy, or outright rejection.

Rebuilding this trust, experts say, requires transparency, accountability, and consistent communication between leaders and citizens. It also demands inclusive governance that ensures all regions and demographic groups feel represented in decision-making.

The media is expected to play a defining role in shaping Nigeria’s social cohesion. Journalists and content creators are no longer seen merely as reporters of events but as powerful influencers of national perception.

Experts warn that journalism can either strengthen unity or deepen division depending on how stories are framed. Balanced reporting, fact-checking, and avoiding ethnic or religious stereotyping remain essential to promoting harmony in a diverse society like Nigeria.

Future media development initiatives are expected to focus more on data-driven journalism, conflict-sensitive reporting, and storytelling that emphasizes shared national identity over division.

Capacity-building programmes for journalists are also expected to expand, equipping media professionals with the skills to report sensitive national issues in ways that foster understanding rather than conflict.

Education is another vital pillar of social cohesion. Experts believe schools and universities must play stronger roles in teaching civic responsibility, national history, and values that promote unity.

They argue that when young Nigerians learn to appreciate diversity and understand the importance of cooperation early in life, they are more likely to contribute positively to society as adults.

Civic education is also expected to extend beyond classrooms through community programmes, youth engagement platforms, and digital learning tools that reinforce tolerance, inclusion, and active citizenship.

For Nigeria, future growth will depend significantly on how fairly economic opportunities are distributed across regions and social groups. Persistent inequality, if unaddressed, could further weaken national unity and slow development.

However, experts caution that technology can either unite or divide. While digital platforms can enhance participation and transparency, they can also spread misinformation and deepen social tensions when poorly managed.

The challenge, therefore, lies in harnessing technology as a tool for inclusion while developing systems that counter misinformation and encourage responsible digital engagement.

At the heart of the social cohesion agenda are ordinary citizens. Analysts insist that national unity cannot be imposed from above—it must be built through daily interactions, shared values, and active participation.

Citizens are encouraged to engage in community development, participate in governance, and contribute ideas for solving local and national challenges.

Future governance models are expected to place greater emphasis on citizen feedback, participatory policymaking, and grassroots involvement in development planning.

Based on this needs Africa Polling Institute API put in place 2 days workshop for Journalists, storytellers, Bloggers Content Creators amongst other to chat a way forward on issue of Social Cohesion in Nigeria.

Speaking at a capacity-building workshop in Abuja for journalists, communication professionals, researchers, policy experts, and academics, Executive Director of the Africa Polling Institute, Prof. Bell Ihua, stressed the importance of strengthening social cohesion to improve governance outcomes.

According to Prof. Ihua, this approach would not only improve governance but also encourage constructive, solution-driven storytelling within the media landscape.

He noted that many citizens increasingly feel the social contract between government and the people is weakening, leading to declining trust in public institutions.

Prof. Ihua emphasized that socially cohesive reporting can help rebuild public confidence while fostering better understanding between government and citizens.

Also speaking, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Veritas University, Dr. Obiora Chukwumba, presented a paper titled “Required Newsroom Responses to Social Cohesion Gaps in Nigeria.”

During his presentation, he highlighted what he described as uncomfortable truths about the state of the nation and the media’s role within it.

Dr. Chukwumba warned that Nigeria may not be as resilient as many assume and argued that the media’s watchdog role is increasingly under pressure.

He also raised concerns over narratives promoting the fragmentation of African states, noting that such issues deserve greater media attention.

The media scholar further pointed to a growing disconnect between storytelling and the realities faced by citizens, urging journalists to ensure their reporting reflects genuine public concerns.

Researcher and Founder of Scientia Partners Innovation Hub, Dr. Helen Emore, also spoke on navigating journalism, diversity, and pluralism in increasingly complex information environments.

Dr. Emore stressed that responsible journalism must remain rooted in ethics and professional standards. According to her, quality journalism requires accuracy, concise storytelling, fact verification, accountability, and readiness to correct errors.

She noted that journalism remains essential in informing citizens, stimulating public debate, building communities, and holding power accountable.

The workshop concluded with member board of API, eloquent Facilitator, certified Trainner Dr. Olusoji Adeniyi calling on media practitioners to intensify efforts against misinformation, disinformation, stereotypes, and harmful narratives that undermine social cohesion.

Drawing lessons from Indonesia, Adeniyi stressed the importance of vocational education, skills acquisition and local language instruction in promoting inclusion and national development.

He said equipping young people with practical skills would provide them with opportunities, reduce social exclusion and strengthen their sense of belonging.

Participants agreed that fact-checking and verification do not weaken journalism; rather, they strengthen credibility, professionalism, and public trust.

The training forms part of ongoing efforts by the Africa Polling Institute and its partners to strengthen the media’s contribution to building a more inclusive, informed, and socially cohesive Nigeria.

The consensus among policymakers, media practitioners, and development experts is clear: building social cohesion is no longer optional—it is essential to Nigeria’s survival, stability, and future growth.

Share on Facebook

Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

2 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

Share on Facebook