FG unveils power, airline, 4 other capital projects in Northeast
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
The federal government to establish an airline power and railway projects for sustainable peace and economic development in the Northeast.
The six capital projects including an integrated feed mill, are sited and to be completed in the insurgency-affected states of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
The Minister of State for Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, Wednesday in Maiduguri, revealed the new projects during a courtesy visit to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State at Government House.
He said that the six capital projects aligned with the North East Stabilisation and Development Plan (NESDP) and the state’s 25-year development plan, stating, “Our plan provides a long-term framework for the social, infrastructural and economic transformation of the region.”
He added that this informed the Ministry of Regional Development (MRD) to prioritise several critical sectors for the development of an over-a-decade insurgency-affected region.
Highlighting the significance of other new projects, the minister further disclosed that a northeast pharmaceutical company will also be established by the federal government to produce essential medicines locally, reducing dependency on imports.
He said that the completion of the regional airline and railway projects is to connect the six states, including Niger, Chad and Cameroon, while the railways will link the Calabar Port, Cross River State, in facilitating trade, commerce and tourism in the country.
According to him, the establishment of a Power Generation and Distribution Company will ensure electricity supply without any power cuts in sustaining economic growth and development of the region.
Ahmadu also listed other development strategies in the education, health, agriculture, ICT, and transportation sectors that will promote carbon credits and climate-smart transport systems in reducing carbon footprints.
He further stated that the establishment of a civil engineering company in the region is targeted to create jobs by retaining the construction expertise in each of the six states.
Zulum, who serves as the Chairman of the North East Governors’ Forum (NEGF), said the commission’s priorities are overcoming the challenges of humanitarian needs of the over 2 million IDP returnees in liberated communities with livelihoods and other resettlement support.
Citing the dilapidated federal government roads built since the 1980s in the former northeastern states and comparing the old Borno, Gongola and Bauchis, they are not motorable, as most were washed away by floods and gully erosion.
He lamented the poor state of federal roads linking Gambouru/Ngala, Damasak, Gwoza, Damboa, Biu, Monguno, Baga and Kukawa in the northern part of the state.
Zulum told the minister that the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists cash in on the bad roads to attack people by planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
