By Kelvin Alohan
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has commenced the process of developing a North-East Stabilization and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) that is focus on both alleviating poverty and promoting prosperity using transformative projects and programmes which will reshape the destiny of the North East region.
Recall that the NEDC Act 2017 mandates the commission to develop a Master Plan that will guide its functions, programmes, projects and schemes, and identify the needs of the region while providing strategies, policies, and immediate and long-term interventions for the recovery, stabilization and development of the region.
The Managing Director, NEDC, Mohammad Alkali, disclosed this during a Humanitarian, Development, and Peacebuilding (HDP) stakeholder engagement forum in Abuja on Wednesday, saying that the NESDMP is an all-inclusive roadmap for peace, reconciliation, rehabilitation, reactivation, replacement reconstruction, and resettlement.
Alkali also said the plan also encompasses regeneration, redevelopment, and sustainable growth of the North-east region.
He said the NESDMP is a comprehensive plan that will cover all human endeavors as it affects the North-east.
According to him, ‘’The NEDC Act clearly outlines the process in two-part: Baseline Studies (establishing the extent of damage and needs assessment) and the Masterplan (produces schemes and programmes with cost and timeline).
‘’There are some duplications amongst activities in the North-east and it will be erased. All state governments might have their master plan but at the end of the day, we will streamline it into one.
‘’We have consultants working on the project and ensuring that all strategies are harmonized,” Alkali said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Masterplan Steering Committee of NEDC, Prof Bobboi Umar, said that the NESDMP has captured eleven critical sector and its aim is not just Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states only but the entire Northeast region.
Prof Bobboi said, “The North-East Stabilization and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) is very holistic and comprehensive, having captured eleven critical sectors which are, Security and peace building; Agriculture; Healthcare; Education; Trade and Investment; MSME; Basic and major infrastructure; Oil, Gas, Power and Mining; Hospitality; Environment, Ecology and Climate Change mitigation; and Inter-State/Regional/Sub-Regional/Lake Chad Integration.
“The plan is going to address all the issues, not only in the crisis-hit states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe but the entire Northeast region.”
The lead consultant, Dr Kassim Gidado, said the NESDMP 2030 plan aims to achieve a thriving and peaceful region.
Gidado said this will be levelled-up with productivity economic shifts for enhanced outputs, inclusive growth, and self-sufficiency.
He said the strategic team includes collective peace and hope, equitable levelled up, reshaped economic reality, and institutionalized change.
On her part, the head humanitarian team, Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) UK, Alexandra Maclean, said the UK Government has been pleased to assist the NEDC via ENSURE Trust Fund.
Maclean said the continuing crisis in North-east Nigeria remains a significant priority for the UK.
She said after more than 12 years of conflict in the North-east, the value of the NESDMP cannot be overemphasised.
