The North-East Development Commission (NEDC) on Saturday said its proposed 10-year master plan will address poverty and infrastructure deficit in the North-East.
Mohammed Alkali, Managing Director, NEDC, stated this in Damaturu, Yobe, at a consultative meeting with stakeholders on the proposed North- East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP).
Represented by Mr Mohammed Jawa, Executive Director, Admin/Finance, Alkali said master plan would contain programmes aimed at accelerating socio-economic development of North-East as well as time and cost of implementing them.
He said the Commission, which was mandated to recover and stabilize the zone from the devastating effects of insurgency, organised the meeting for bottom-up policy formulation and implementation.
The Managing Director listed participants of the meeting to include lawmakers, security agents, traditional rulers, clerics, civil society organizations, persons living with disabilities, women groups and judicial officers.
Alkali said the resolution of the meeting in Yobe and five other states in the zone would be harmonised into a draft plan to be presented for validation.
In his remarks, Prof. Umar Bobboi, Chairman, NESDMP Steering Committee, said the master plan, if completed, would serve as a comprehensive reference document for the state, Federal Government and development partners.
“ It will contain 10 pillars, cutting across 16 sectors.
“ So, it’s a 10-year plan divided into four : recovery, renewal, expansion and sustainable development phase.
“ States in the zone are not at the same level. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa will need more recovery, stabilization interventions while Gombe, Taraba and Bauchi will need renewal and expansion,” he said.
The Secretary to Yobe Government, Alhaji Baba Wali, said issues to discussed in the meeting included security and peace building, social and human capital development, infrastructure, environment, economic development and institutional change.
He charged the participants to do justice to the topics to turn around the fortunes of Yobe which was the second must affected state by insurgency.
The Emir of Fika, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn-Abali called on the commission to provide farm inputs to farmers, saying 80 percent of citizens in the state were farmers.
He also called for establishment of skills acquisition centrewater provision of clean water, especially in Fika, Gulani and Gujba areas suffering from acute water shortages.
