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Tag: Northwest Govs

  • Northwest Govs meet to tackle insecurity, others

    Northwest Govs meet to tackle insecurity, others

    North West Governors met in Kaduna on Friday night to discuss pressing issues affecting the region, including insecurity, unemployment and excessive drug use.

    The meeting, at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, aimed to foster collaboration and develop strategies to address these challenges.

    Chairman of the Northwest Governors’ Forum Umar Dikko Radda (Katsina) disclosed that the seven States have agreed to work together to tackle the issues . 

    According to him: “We just concluded our meeting and the deliberation was very fruitful,” he said.

    “We had a long discussion on issues bothering challenges affecting our region and we have had presentations from Northwest Development Commission, as well as the Federal Medical University Funtua for the region.”

    The Governors discussed ways to prevent excessive drug use and explored potential collaborations with development partners. Dr. Radda emphasized the importance of working together to bring about necessary development in the region.

    Read Also: Northwest Govs solicit UN support

    “We have all agreed to work together on these issues raised, in order to bring the necessary development that is needed in the region,” he said.

    Kaduna Governor, Uba Sani, noted that the issues of poverty, unemployment, and drug addiction are at the forefront and require immediate attention.

    “We are working together to tackle issues affecting the region, and we are in close collaboration with development partners in order to find lasting solutions to the issues affecting the zone,” he said.

  • Northwest Govs solicit UN support

    Northwest Govs solicit UN support

    North West Governors have appealed to the United Nations (UN) for support in tackling numerous development challenges in the region.

    They made the appeal during a meeting with the UN Country team led by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mohamed Malick Fall on Friday,  a statement by National Information Officer, Dr. Oluseyi Soremekun said.

    According to him, the delegation was led by the Chairman, Northwest Governors Forum and Katsina Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, identifying other Governors who attended the meeting in Abuja as  Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna); Abba Kabir Yusuf (Kano); Mallam Umar Namadi (Jigawa); Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Idris Muhammad Gobir.

    He said the Governors highlighted the major challenges faced by the region, including insecurity, multidimensional poverty, a large population of out-of-school children, increased cases of illicit drug abuse, high child and maternal mortality, and a large youth population that is unemployed. 

    Soremekun said they indicated that nearly 80% of the population derive their livelihoods from agriculture, however, they face the challenges of land degradation and climate change which has reduced their yields. 

    Continuing, he said the Governors also highlighted the high levels of child malnutrition. They also committed to providing a strong political support needed to ensure UN interventions in the Northwest are implemented with speed and at scale. 

    “The only way we can surmount the challenges of Northwest is through a regional approach which demands that we work together in a coordinated manner. 

    “We need to collectively fight poverty and unemployment being the major root causes of insecurity in the region,” the Chairman of the Northwest Governors’ Forum said. 

    The UN Resident Coordinator expressed delight at receiving six of the seven Governors in the zone and assured that the United Nations family would support the Northwest region to address those development challenges. 

    He noted that with the varied high levels of multidimensional poverty, the sustainable development goals would only be achieved in Nigeria if the northwest got it right, and this in turn would impact positively on the African region. 

    “The UN in Nigeria is encouraged to see the strong leadership and commitment of Northwest Governors to improving the wellbeing of their people.  We will continue to support the government and people of Northwest Nigeria. Together, we will rescue and accelerate the agenda 2030 for sustainable development in the region,” Fall said.

    The Resident Coordinator informed the governors that the UN has embarked on acceleration of the achievement of the SDGs through a focus on six key areas including food systems, education, social protection and jobs, energy access, climate change, and digital transformation. 

    It was agreed at the meeting that a roadmap for action will be developed by technical teams from the UN and the seven states, through a framework of UN support to the region.