Governors of North-East geopolitical zone in their meeting in Yola, Adamawa state capital have agreed to give Education a priority to enhance human development in the region.
The Host Governor, Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri read a 13 point communique issued at government house Yola, the governors decry the falling standards of education with a promise to take stringent measures to regularise the anomaly.
” Forum critically examine the challenges of education in the subregion and resolve to adopt a regional approach by being deliberate in transforming education especially at the basic level
” Forum has agreed to form the North-east council on education and enforce UBEC laws to protect and ensure all children have an opportunity to acquire basic education,” Fintiri said.
On the security turf, the governors said the region has to witness relative improvement but regretted that the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers still constitute a serious threat to sustainable development.
” Forum noted that there is a relative improvement in the security situation in the subregion however the activities of Boko Haram, bandits, cattle rustling, and kidnappers are still constituting a threat to sustainable development.
” While the forum commends the effort of the security agencies, in the subregion it intends to strengthen community policing and action to complement their efforts,” Fintiri noted.
The governors also frowned at the lackluster attitude of the federal government towards the provision of infrastructure in the budget noting that in the proposed 2021 budget, the federal government only made provision of a paltry N45.32 billion for infrastructural development in the region.
” Forum notes with dismay that despite the challenges of development especially the infrastructural deficit in the northeast, the 2021 proposed federal government budget makes provision only for N45.32bn for capital projects in the subregion. This represents a paltry 0.35 percent of the proposed N13.02trn.
” This means that the northeast is highly shortchanged. Forum demands the national assembly to review the 2021 budget in the spirit of equity and inclusion.
” It equally mandates the northeast caucus of both the senate and house of reps to take steps to redress the imbalance.
” Forum noted that the subregion has been unfairly treated in the provision of road infrastructure by the federal ministry of works and housing and further noted with dismay the slow or outright nonexistent progress on the phase of roads already allocated in the subregion and call for immediate reactivation and review of existing road contracts in the subregion,” the communique added.
The governors also decried the lack of budgetary provision in respect of the Mambila hydro project in the 2021 budgetary proposal and called on the federal government to make the project a matter of serious priority and resolve all incumbrance around the project and order action on site.
The forum fixed the 14th March 2021 to conduct the next meeting in Bauchi.