By Lizzy Carr, Bauchi
The Northeast governors’s forum has noted that the zone remained short-changed in 2021 capital appropriation and asked the federal government to make provision for more.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the 4th meeting of the forum’s meeting held in Bauchi.
The forum said even though the 2021 budget was already signed into law, the zone was in precarious situation that required aggressive infrastural intervention to defeat insurgency and build resilience of the communities.
The governors stressed the need for adequate allocation for capital projects for the sub region in the build up of the supplementary budget, which is the only window to redress the apparent injustice to the region.
Chairman of the forum and Borno state governor, Professor Babagana Zulum said the forum considered the prospects of oil exploration in the region and resolved to have specialized institutions to provide the required local contents in the oil and gas industry.
He also stressed the need for governors to aggressively reposition education and agreed to form the North East Council on Education, “with the mandate to improve quality performance of students, set up peer review, and collate data drive decision, making on education including performance, admissions, regulatory frame, human resource management and digitalization among others.”
The council is to be chaired by the Bauchi state commissioner of education, Dr Aliyu Tilde.
The governors appreciated the reinforced efforts in the fight against insurgency and other forms of criminality but felt “the need for community policing and sub regional security outfit to compliment the efforts of the military and other federal agencies in addressing these challenges.”
The forum is made up of the governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.
