Senator Natasha Charts Roadmap for US-Nigeria Zero Tariff Trade Pact
By Matthew Eloyi
Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has called on the Nigerian government to seize the opportunity of deepening trade relations with the United States by targeting a zero-tariff trade agreement, leveraging the country’s mineral wealth, agriculture, and tech talent.
In a recent Facebook post following her engagement with top American political and business figures, including Mark Meadows, former White House Chief of Staff under President Donald Trump, Senator Natasha revealed that the US is actively seeking global production partners due to a large “functional unemployed” population, which the Trump-led Republican bloc is eager to put back to work.
“America has over 100 million ‘functional unemployed’ people… to do so, their industries from tech to agriculture must hit production, but there’s an impediment—Nixon’s 1970s EPA,” she wrote.
According to the senator, this presents a major opportunity for Nigeria, particularly in supplying raw materials and becoming a hub for outsourced industrial and tech processes.
She emphasised Nigeria’s rich deposits of rare earth minerals essential for the 4th Industrial Revolution—such as monazite, coltan, bastnasite, and xenotime—found abundantly in states including Kogi, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, Borno, Niger, Plateau, and others.
“I always nursed a sinister thought towards the several ill-fated community killings in the guise of religion. It’s always been resource control,” she stated, linking Nigeria’s insecurity challenges to unchecked competition for valuable resources.
Beyond minerals, Senator Natasha also identified agriculture and information technology as sectors where Nigeria can outcompete other countries, especially in supplying organic produce to American companies and establishing call centres to absorb outsourced IT jobs.
“No hurricanes, no winter frostbites, no wildfires, no earthquakes—Nigeria can position herself as a major organic products supplier to America,” she said, suggesting partnerships between Nigerian shea butter cooperatives and US skincare companies like Neutrogena.
In the area of tech outsourcing, she proposed that Nigeria could rival India by harnessing its large unemployed youth population and clearer English accent to dominate the global call centre industry.
She then offered a five-point policy recommendation to position Nigeria as a viable trade partner to the US:
1. Renew and expand the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond 2025.
2. Deepen trade dialogues under the US-Nigeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).
3. Pass legislation—like her proposed Gold Reserve Bill—to regulate extractive industries and promote local value addition.
4. Appoint business-oriented ambassadors capable of attracting strategic foreign investments.
5. Strengthen political will and trust to attract and retain international investors.
Senator Natasha concluded by emphasising the need to invest in human capital and entrepreneurship to unlock Nigeria’s full potential.
“The world is Nigeria’s oyster,” she said. “Let’s invest in human capital and honestly strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem, then watch the world dance to us.”
Her remarks have sparked conversations about Nigeria’s readiness to fully capitalise on global trade openings, especially as AGOA approaches expiration and the world’s industrial focus shifts toward critical minerals and sustainable production.
