By Sani Aliyu, Zaria
Dr. Ja’afaru Sa’ad, a development and national security expert, says Nigeria can significantly boost foreign exchange earnings and create large-scale employment by unlocking five dormant national industrial assets he described as the country’s “Hidden NNPCs”.
Sa’ad disclosed this in an advisory to President Bola Tinubu, submitted through the Galadiman Ruwa Centre for Strategic Leadership and Communication (GCSLC).
He anchored his recommendation on the 2026 World Economic Forum (Davos) Global Risk Survey, which ranks geo-economic confrontation which was driven by tariffs, investment restrictions and competition for critical resources — among the world’s top risks.
Speaking to the newsmen on Tuesday in Zaria on the advisory, Sa’ad raised concerns over Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported raw materials, despite abundant domestic availability.
He said that the continued dependence on the imported raw materials into the country represents a structural weakness that drains national reserves and exposes the economy to external shocks.
According to him, failure to unlock Nigeria’s internal economic capacity could intensify fiscal pressure, worsen unemployment and deepen social stress, increasing the risk of conflict within society, as projected in the Davos report.
Sa’ad, therefore, recommended the immediate activation of the National Revenue Regeneration and Financial Corporation (NRRFC) as a sovereign economic security mechanism to convert idle public industrial foundations into revenue-generating engines.
He said the framework would transform five dormant sovereign assets which he described as the “Hidden NNPCs” into self-sustaining enterprises capable of generating trillions of naira annually,
Sa’ad said the hidden NNPCs could also strengthen foreign exchange inflows and deliver mass employment.
The economist further proposed the adoption of an “8R Stealth Paradigm” to reset underperforming public institutions from cost centres to profit-oriented entities.
He added that the proposed adoption of an 8R stealth paradigm could also resuscitate idle production lines through private capital and restructure operations using special-purpose initiatives instead of debt-heavy financing models.
Drawing lessons from Saudi Arabia’s SABIC and the industrial transformation strategies of South Korea and China, Sa’ad said Nigeria has the capacity to engineer a similar economic reset by deliberately repurposing sovereign assets to serve long-term national interests.
He said that proactive sovereign economic engineering, rather than reactive fiscal management was critical to safeguarding Nigeria’s economic borders and strengthening resilience against global geo-economic shocks as the country looks towards 2050.
