Follow Us on Google
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
In a region that was plagued by insecurity, pestilence and drought comes the North East Development Commission (NEDC), which is an interventionist agency created to tackle the plights of indigenes of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
In its seven years of existence, NEDC has been able to pick up the gauntlet to confront kidnappings and killings that once made farmers to abandon food production.
The commission, according to the Managing Director, Mohammed Goni Alkali, has made inroads in the areas of education, welfare, rural electrification and infrastructure.
Alkali, in one of his public media outings explained that the plans of the commission aligned with the mandate of the federal government and the mission establishing the commission.
According to him, NEDC established a N30 billion NEDC-Bank of Industry (BOI) MSME and it is already yielding results.
“Development fund to provide accessible financing, business development services and capacity-building support for micro, small and medium enterprises, particularly youth- and women-owned businesses.
“The fund is expected to stimulate entrepreneurship, strengthen local industries, create employment, and accelerate inclusive economic growth across the region,” he said.
He described healthcare as a cornerstone of the North East Development Commission’s commitment to improving the quality of life across the region.
He added that in line with the healthy citizenry pillar of the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) and President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Commission had made strategic investments to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, expand access to specialist medical services and build a resilient health system capable of serving future of generation.
Alkali maintained that one of the commission’s flagship intervention interventions was the procurement of 8 state of-the-art 1.5 Tesla Helium-Free MRI systems and other critical equipment for deployment across the six North-East states.
“Complemented by the ongoing procurement of CT Scan machines, digital X-ray systems, mammography equipment, dialysis machines and and other advanced diagnostic technologies, these investments will significantly improve access to specialised healthcare, reduce medical referrals outside the region and enhance the capacity of of tertiary hospitals to deliver quality care.
“To ensure long-term sustainability, the Commission has established dedicated MRI facilities, provided alternative power solutions, executed five-year maintenance agreements with equipment manufacturers and commenced specialized training for radiologists, biomedical engineers and technical personnel to guarantee continuous operation and local capacity development.
“The Commission is also investing in specialist healthcare institutions, including the comprehensive upgrade of the Borno Eye Hospital into a modern ophthalmic centre and the establishment of a fully equipped Fertility Centre at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). These facilities will provide advanced medical services.”
To fully light up the region, he announced NEDC would need N100 billion to provide solar-powered electricity.
In addition, the Managing Director revealed that NEDC would float an airline to ease movement, stating that the funds would come from counterpart funding.
According to him, the Governing Board’s decisions to deepen investment in the region was another defining milestone in the transformation of the North-East, adding that the Commission had moved from an initial stabilisation and recovery phase into a renewal phase involving broader investment in infrastructure, energy and social services.
Speaking on the economy through road infrastructure, he remarked that the NEDC has continued to reconnect communities and unlock economic opportunities through one of the most extensive road and bridge infrastructure schemes in the North-East.
He stressed that to date, it has delivered over 300 kilometres of roads and more than 50 bridges, restoring critical transport corridors, improving access to education and healthcare, facilitating trade, and strengthening regional integration.
“Across Adamawa State, the Commission constructed the 32km Dabna Road, the Federal College of Education, Yola Road, the College of Education, Hong Road, the Garkida Cross–Kukurtu Road, and rehabilitated roads in Fufore. Landmark projects such as the Numan Bridge, Bole Bridge, Madagali and Michika Bridges, and the Mubi–Maiha–Sarao Bridges have significantly improved connectivity, agricultural transportation and cross-border trade.
“In Bauchi State, the Commission delivered the 32km Kirfi–Gombe Abba Road, the landmark Tashan Turmi, Bara and Kalajanga Bridges, the Ningi–Yadagungume–Fuskar Mata Road, the Soro–Ganjuwa Bridge, and extensive erosion control and drainage works, improving inter-state connectivity and climate resilience.”
In Borno State, he disclosed that major interventions include the Ngom–Koshebe–Zabarmari–Gongulong–Khadamari Road Corridor, the Zabarmari–Dusuman Road, the reconstruction of the Gongulong–Khadamari and Monguno–Maiduguri Roads, the Fogori (Galtimari) Bridge, the Moro-Moro Market Bridge, and the Kaleri–Moduganari Bypass Road, restoring critical infrastructure destroyed by conflict and flooding.
While detailing that investment in Gombe State, he said NEDC constructed the 21km Gombe Abba–Kirfi Road, bridges along the Gombe Northern Bypass, Gombe–Dukku, Gombe–Akko and Tsando Roads, together with major erosion control works, have strengthened mobility and regional connectivity.
In Taraba State, he pointed out the rehabilitation of the Jalingo–Wukari Highway, construction of the Mayo Ndaga, Namnai and River Bantaje Bridges, alongside emergency repairs to the Mayo Kam Bridge and drainage works on the Suntai–Donga Road, have reconnected communities and improved access to agricultural and commercial centres.
Other News
In Yobe State, recalled how NEDC delivered the 54km Mutai–Ngalda Road, the Damaturu–Buni Yadi–Magza Road Overlay, roads serving the NEDC Mega School, Potiskum, the Damaturu–Gujba Bridge, and several bridges, culverts and drainage structures across Potiskum, Tarmuwa, Gujba and Fune Local Government Areas, enhancing mobility and flood resilience.
“Collectively, these investments have reduced travel times, lowered transportation costs, improved access to markets and essential services, strengthened food security, and laid the foundation for increased private investment and inclusive economic growth.”
Public affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, questioned the economic impact, when the region is still rising from ruines of banditry.
Ojo suggested that intervention projects should immediately address the concerns of the citizens and not for NEDC to carry out elephantine initiatives that would swallow the entire budgets, only to benefit a few.He said: “I think that would be a misplaced priority. The entire northeast Nigeria does not have the kind of traffic that will make a regional airline a lucrative business, unless they want to run it as a charity. “We are talking of those six states in the northeast: Adamawa, Borno, Bauch, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. In these places there are already airlines flying there, even though they do not have regular flights because of the traffic volume. “So the regional hairline is very expensive, and for me, it should be left to private operators, rather than using its resources to say you want to do hairlines.
“Because even now, all the established airlines, many of them, their state governors are pleading with the federal government to take over the running, because they now saw that the running cost is huge, and it is like a drain pipe, a cesspool, where they are just putting money without commensurate outcome.”
He cited an airline owned by the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Binani, Aishatu, known as Binani Air, stating that it is a welcome development that the NEDC should partner with instead of setting a regional airline.
“The former state APC governorship candidate in 2023, has just floated an airline, and Aishatu Binani is from Adamawa. So she can afford to do to give flight routes to our region.
“But I don’t think the Northeast Development Commission should put resources in that kind of venture.
“Not airlines, not flying, not establishing airlines, which is for the elite, because none of the routes in the six states of the Northeast is viable for airlines, because people are doing flights overland, a couple of other airlines are already flying those things.
“So it is like when the president advised state governors to stop building flyovers, because it has become very wasteful when you build flyovers when there is no traffic congestion.
“They say you do not need to go and establish airlines because it is going to be a dream, even for states that decide to go and establish airlines, like Cali Air, then we have Enugu Air one of their planes just had a runway mess up a couple of weeks back.
“Then you have the only one that is working is that of IbomAir. IbomAir is the only one that I can say is an example of a state-owned airline that is, at least for now, operating efficiently.
“So I don’t think interventionist agencies like NEDC consortium should actually be using state resources to promote a state-owned airline. That would be a misplaced priority.”
On the proposed N100 billion by NEDC to provide solar-powered electricity in the region, the public affairs analyst said: “again, I know that that may sound a bit convincing in the sense that when we see the positive impact of how electricity can help to catalyze the economy, particularly in nano, small, and medium enterprises, I may want to agree. But these N100 billion, was there any feasibility studies?
“How would you identify communities that would benefit? Because part of this whole Development Commission challenge is the cronyism that comes out of it.
“Contracts are usually awarded to cronies, and many of them are abandoned after mobilization fees. It looks good on paper to say, okay, we want to provide electricity, but you know it has to be complimentary.
“There is a government rural electrification program agency. There is an agency that provides rural electrification. If they can work with that kind of agency or federal government, and they also work with the state governments in the region, and they can provide a list of communities across each of the three senatorial districts in those six states, making 18 senatorial districts, so that they are equitable distribution.”
Also, he questioned the quality of the solar-powered electricity, warning that it should not be of low quality.
“Then what is the quality of this solar. electricity? Because for us, when you do solar, solar electricity is in grids. There are different grids of solar. I once did a solar that, after spending so much, I didn’t get back for the money spent on that. So I had to revert to use power generator, I mean fuel, PMS generator.
Ojo pointed out that the National Assembly should properly scrutinise the budget and expenditure of the NEDC to ensure that bogus projects are not abandoned.
“So again, there are so many questions, but you know the ultimate agency that should ensure transparency and accountability in all of this is the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is the one that approves the budget for this commission by acts of the National Assembly, and because these budgets are approved by the National Assembly.
“I mean, you know that NEDC budget is also approved by the National Assembly. So the National Assembly needs to do due diligence in asking the right questions and ensuring that there is value for money in whatever is being done, and that projects that happen yo be like misplaced priorities are announced to stay true with their budget.”
