Follow Us on Google
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
North East Development Commission (NEDC) has intensified moves to embed international management standards into its operations as part of efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and improve delivery of development programmes across the North-East.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mohammed Goni Alkali, said the focus had shifted from merely obtaining International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certifications to ensuring that the standards guide decision-making, accountability, risk management and programme delivery.
Alkali spoke on Monday at the opening of a three-day ISO Executive Retreat for senior management of the commission in Abuja.
The retreat, themed, “Institutionalising Excellence: From Certification to Systems,” is designed to deepen ownership of the standards among senior management and translate them into the commission’s day-to-day operations.
Alkali said certification was an important milestone but not the ultimate destination, stressing that the real test was whether the standards were reflected in how decisions were made and programmes implemented.
He said the commission’s interventions in roads, schools, healthcare facilities, water, livelihoods, mobility, energy and other sectors depended not only on investment but also on strong systems for planning, monitoring and management.
“The Master Plan tells us what we must deliver for the North-East. Our leadership, our systems and our collective discipline will determine how successfully we deliver it,” he said.
According to him, the retreat aligns with the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan, particularly its emphasis on planning, accountability, risk management, coordination and performance monitoring. The master plan serves as the commission’s regional roadmap for recovery, stabilisation and long-term development.
Alkali said the commission had secured certification in five ISO management system standards covering Quality Management, Environmental Management, Occupational Health and Safety, Anti-Bribery Management and Sustainable Development in Communities.
Other News
He stressed that the standards must now become part of the way the commission works rather than remain mere certification requirements.
The NEDC boss said the Abuja retreat built on the commission’s 2026 Excellence Forum held earlier in Maiduguri, Borno State, where staff on Levels 6 to 13 were trained on how to apply the standards in their daily work.
The Maiduguri forum, held from September 14 to 16, focused on quality, accountability, integrity, collaboration and improved service delivery across the commission’s headquarters and offices in the six North-East states.
Alkali said the Abuja programme placed greater responsibility on senior management, who were expected to take ownership of governance, risk, accountability and sustainable programme delivery.
Acting Head, Governance, Compliance and Service Reform, Fatuma Dalhatu, also urged participants to take the retreat seriously, stressing that while the NEDC Master Plan provides direction, the Integrated Management System requires discipline and ownership to achieve the commission’s goals.
“ISO is not only the responsibility of GCS; it is all our responsibility.
“GCS can coordinate, but senior management has to own the system. Without ownership, we’ll just have certificates on the wall,” she said.
Dalhatu said the objective was to ensure that the standards became embedded in management decisions and operational processes across the commission.
The NEDC had earlier said the value of its ISO certifications would ultimately be measured by how they improved institutional performance and translated into better development outcomes for people across the North-East.
