North East Governors seek support to stop trafficking of narcotic drugs.
By Jethro Yerga, Jalingo
The six governors of the North East Region under the auspices of North East Governors Forum (NEGF), comprising of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe have called for a collaborative support in the area of stopping drug trafficking and enforcing narcotic control within the region and across the borders.
This is one of the resolutions reached by the six governors at their just concluded 5th meeting held in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
In a communique signed by the chairman of the forum, the Executive Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umaru Zulum, and issued to the press at the end of the meeting, the forum noted the negative impact of drug and narcotic substances in the region and the extent to which it fuels the insurgency and other forms of criminality that are troubling the area and called for a collective fight to bring it to an end.
Also, the forum condoled with President Muhammedu Buhari, the Nigerian Army and the families of the late Chief of Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru and the other officers who lost their lives in the course of their service to the nation even as it congratulated the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya on his appointment.
The governors appreciated the general improvement of the security situation in the region and called for continuous collaboration of all the security agencies in the country to sustain the gains.
The Governors in the meeting also considered the technical support on potentials for growth and development of the region especially the Agribusiness Programme and directed the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARD) to immediately prepare and submit the project proposal to the NGF Secretariat for onward transmission to the various states for implementation.
They called on diplomatic community, partners and donor agencies supporting the region to activate the process of transiting from humanitarian to stabilization and durable solution within the region in order to ensure sustainability and give people the opportunity to help themselves out of the dreaded jaws of poverty.
While commending the giant strides being made by Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria (REAN), the governors resolved to support the agency to intensify working with designated Focal Persons at the individual states to ensure justifiable spread of projects across the region.
They however, expressed deep concern over the activities of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) as an intervention agency in the region, pointing out that the level of consultation between the commission and the various State Government within the region on the project priorities, location as well as the speed of work on those projects already in place are slow.
Accordingly, they called on the commission to consult the various State Governments within the region on priorities for intervention, location of projects and development of the North East Masterplan.
The governors adopted report from the North East Council on Education with a view to reposition and improve quality and performance of students and teachers screening and training in the region but called for expedited action to complete the existing projects in the area.
While appreciating the Federal Character Commission for ensuring compliance with the Federal Character Principle, the forum expressed dismay over the shortfall in the number of applicants from the region in the recent recruitment into the Federal Agencies and resolved to follow up with all the concerned agencies to ensure that the region gets its fair share in the recruitments into the concern agencies.
Expressing dismay over the teething
challenges being faced by the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the governors noted that the project as important as it is, is surrounded by a lot of contractual encumbrances which have stalled its take-off and realization.
It therefore, called on the president to accord the project the desired seriousness by establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to address the encumbrances and bring the project to reality.
