Follow Us on Google
From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Minister of Regional Development Abubakar Momoh has said the new National Regional Development Policy (NRDP) will accommodate the peculiarities of all regions to address growth disparities across the country.
Momoh made this known in an address delivered in Maiduguri yesterday at the Northeast edition of the NRDP Regional Technical Validation Workshop.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Mary Ogbe, stated that reflecting regional peculiarities would help in tackling specific gaps in various zones and ensuring inclusive growth.
“The policy covers all the states in the country, bearing in mind the differences and peculiarities of the regions. So, we are looking at these peculiarities in each of the regions,” he declared.
He noted that the Northeast engagement was the sixth and final session following previous workshops conducted across other geopolitical zones.
The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms Elsie Attafuah, represented by Senior Governance Advisor Matthew Alao, said the technical engagement was designed to allow the collation of inputs that will lead to the final formulation of the national regional development policy.
Welcoming the minister and participants, the Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, observed that regional development in Nigeria had historically advanced via isolated interventions instead of a coherent and coordinated national effort.
He said the National Regional Development Policy sets out to change this situation by placing regions at the very centre of national planning, urging participants and the people of the Northeast to support the development of the framework document.
Participants at the validation workshop were drawn from government agencies, development partners, civil society organisations, traditional institutions, and the media across the six Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.
