Northern Elders Forum Condemns Lagos Siting of National Gold Refinery

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has strongly criticized the Federal Government’s decision to locate Nigeria’s national gold refinery in Lagos, describing it as an act of “economic dispossession” against the North.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, NEF argued that siting the refinery far from the country’s primary gold-producing regions in the North is a deliberate policy that deepens structural inequality. The Forum accused the government of perpetuating an extractive economic model, where raw materials are sourced from the North while value-addition and industrial benefits are concentrated elsewhere.

NEF warned that this practice exacerbates youth unemployment, rural poverty, and insecurity in Northern states, which bear the environmental and social costs of mining without reaping the developmental benefits. The group cited constitutional provisions on derivation, arguing that resource-bearing regions deserve meaningful economic benefits, not just fiscal allocations.

The Forum also criticized Northern political leaders for their silence on the issue. It called on the government to relocate at least one primary gold refinery to the North’s gold-producing corridor, aligning with international best practices that place processing facilities near resource sources to foster regional development.