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The North-West Governors’ Forum has promised to address the menace of out-of-school children, poverty and youth unemployment bedeviling the region.
The governors made the promise on Monday during a meeting with senior United Nations officials and the African Development Bank to advance top development initiatives in the region at the Katsina House, Abuja.
This was contained in a statement by Ibrahim Mohammed, the Chief Press Secretary to the Katsina State Governor and the Chairman of forum, Dikko Radda, and made available to newsmen in Katsina on Monday.
The statement read, “In his address to the press following the meeting, Governor Radda hinted on the significance of the engagement with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who specifically joined the forum, because of the importance attached to the forum and to appreciate the kind of leadership in the Northwest at the moment.
“The meeting, which was attended by Governors Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto, and Umar Namadi of Jigawa State, received briefing from UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Muhammed and the UN Resident Coordinator, Malick Fall on progress with various programmes and strengthening collective pact.
“Members of the forum agreed to pursue quick and high impact interventions across social protection, education, food security and climate adaptation.”
The statement added that the Katsina governor also intimated the public on the meeting with the African Development Bank, stating, “We had an elaborate meeting with the African Development Bank regarding NAG 2.0 – the Nigeria Agricultural Growth Scheme — which targets the Northwestern States.
“The governor continued that the forum is on the eve of implementing this programme, which will address agricultural development and value chain enhancement within the region.
“Governor Radda also announced that discussions with AfDB covered the Special Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZ) phase 2 implementation strategies and the livestock development plan for the region, noting that “While the first phase included Kaduna and Kano States, all five Northwest states will be beneficiaries in the second phase.
“Governor Radda equally stated that the forum interfaced with the IRS on renewable energy especially solar and CNG for sustainable and economic growth of the region, expressing readiness to tap from the available resources at the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) for the benefits of the region’s citizenry.
“In a move to strengthen regional coordination, the Forum confirmed Ms. Maryam Musa Yahaya as its pioneer Director General. Ms. Yahaya brings into the new role her wealth of experience of engagement with international development partners as well as her working relationship with the State Governments at the Nigeria Govenors Forum (NGF) Secretariat.
“Each state governor has designated a focal person to coordinate development partner programs within their respective States.
“We have unanimously agreed to work together on economic development, agricultural advancement, addressing the challenge of out-of-school children, poverty alleviation, and youth employment.
“These are the focus areas of our various state administrations in the Northwest.”
Radda concluded by affirming the Forum’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s initiatives, stating that “the whole Northwest state governors are in support of the efforts of Mr. President and his initiatives to provide economic prosperity to our country Nigeria.”
