Governor Inuwa Lauds NEDC For Initiating  Development Masterplan For North East

  

Gombe State Governor,  Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has expressed confidence that the production of the North East Stabilization and Development Masterplan through an inclusive engagement process will yield workable and acceptable strategies for the commission’s activities in the region.  

Governor Inuwa made the assertion at the opening ceremony of a state-level engagement and consultative meeting on the North-East Stabilization and Development Masterplan Project (NESDMP) held in Gombe. 

The Governor described the  Masterplan as a milestone and a quantum leap in the region’s collective history and achievements, as it will sign post a road map for the transformation of critical sectors enshrined in the NEDC mandate. 

“Therefore, our active participation in this important consultative meeting is crucial to ensuring the success of the Commission. This is because without a good roadmap that reflects the true yearnings and aspirations of the people of the sub-region, it will be difficult for the Commission to achieve the primary objectives of coordinating the resettlement, rehabilitation, integration and reconstruction of infrastructure in the sub-region”. 

He explained that the production of the North East Stabilization and Development Masterplan is similar to the engagements the State carried out for the preparation of DEVAGOM, the 10-year plan which his administration developed to serve as a development roadmap for the State. 
The Governor revealed that the preparation of DEVAGOM was facilitated by seasoned development experts and practitioners, supported by local and international partners.

 
He noted that DEVAGOM derived its contents also from a state-wide stakeholders consultation, spanning all the 114 wards of the State which aimed at deepening ownership of the development process and promoting greater inclusiveness, transparency and accountability in governance. 

“Today, this helps to track our performance and plan for the future. Copies of the document are presented for guidance and reference to details in the upcoming discussions by our representatives and other participants”. 
Governor Inuwa Yahaya observed that the North-East Development Commission is one of the numerous democracy dividends the sub-region is enjoying under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. 

The Governor recalled that since its inception in 2019, the commission has facilitated the quick recovery and socio-economic development of the subregion following the devastation caused by the Boko Haram insurgency. 

He said the Commission has equally recorded many laudable achievements especially in the areas of humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities affected by insurgency . 
The Governor however said to give the young commission a sound footing  and to ensure that it delivers on its statutory mandates, it is necessary to have a comprehensive masterplan that will guide its future interventions. 

He therefore thanked the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) of adopting a participatory and consultative approach to decision-making and for organising the engagement meeting in Gombe, describing the initiative as atestimony to the commitment of the Commission’s management to developing a robust stabilization and development masterplan for the region. 
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk represented by Group Captain Sadiq Garba Shehu said her ministry is in full support of activities of the NEDC towards complementing the developmental efforts of the Governors of the North East particularly Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya. 
“Your Excellency sir the Hon. Minister mandated me to express her appreciation for the huge support that the Gombe State Government  accords to the North East Development Commission. The latest is the allocation of a very befitting plot of land for the NEDC to build its office”. 

The Managing Director of the NEDC, Mohammed Goni Alkali said the Stabilization and Development Masterplan will contain programmes and schemes that promote and facilitate physical and socio economic development of the North East. 
Represented by the Executive Director Operations in the Commission, Maiwada  Mohammed Umar,  the Managing Director said in order to come up with a robust Masterplan, the commission deemed it necessary to harvest and cross fertilize ideas for an all-inclusive buy in in the plan. 

Giving an overview of the Plan, the lead consultant of the North East Stabilization and  Development Master Plan Project, Dr Kassim Gidado said the plan is a realistic and well articulated document which seeks to engender sustainable development for shared prosperity among the people of the North East in particular and Nigerian in general. 
He said the North East Sustainable and Development Masterplan takes interest at natural and human resources of the sub-region with a view to transforming such comparative advantage for the overall socio- economic, environmental and infrastructural benefit of the people of the zone. 

He said the plan drew inferences from the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and poised to fulfil some of the critical SDG’s goals by the year 2030 
There were goodwill messages from the speaker Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Mohammed Luggerewo, the State Commissioner of Finance Muhammad Gambo Magaji, comrade Gloria Usman of the Civil Society Organisations and the Mai Kaltungo who spoke on behalf of traditional institution.