The North East Governors’ Forum has expressed concern over the seeming neglect of the region in the allocation of Federal Government Capital Projects. This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the 10th Meeting of the forum held in Bauchi, chaired by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State.
The Forum noted with dismay that despite its repeated calls for attention to the poor state of infrastructure in the region, particularly the deplorable state of roads and railways along the economic corridors linking the North East subregion to the rest of the country, nothing significant has been done. The Enugu-Maiduguri road and railway, a major route for regional trade and integration, have been destroyed.
The Forum called on the Federal Government to reconstruct these basic infrastructure and include the North East in all National Development Plans and initiatives. They also expressed concern over the blackout experienced by the region due to a lack of electricity over the last month and the nonchalant attitude of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in addressing this issue.
The Forum resolved to set up a solar power plant to generate a minimum of 10 Megawatts per State in the short term. They also called on the Minister of Power and the Federal Government to implement the extension of the 330KV transmission line from Makurdi-Gassol-Jalingo linking to states of Adamawa-Gombe-Bauchi and the extension of the 330KV line from Kano-Bauchi-Yobe, linking to Borno.
The Forum noted that climate change and environmental degradation remain a reality in the region and called for a sustained and coordinated regional effort to reverse desertification.
The governors also charged the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to be consultative in its dealings and work with the States in the region for Energy Development to unlock the energy potentials of the region.
