The North West Governors, including Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf of Kano, have called for interventions by the United Nations to rescue the region from multiple concerns threatening its survival.
Also at the advocacy meeting alongside Gov. Yusuf in Abuja are Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, Ummaru Dikko Radda of Katsina, Mohammad Namadi of Jigawa, Dauda Lawan Dare of Zamfara, and the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, who represented the Governor.
The governors’ meeting with UN officials was prompted by the unfolding developmental challenges bedevilling the region and the urgent need to solicit international interventions across critical areas of the economy.
In a statement by Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, the spokeswoman to the Kano State Governor, the governors in the region pushed for a development agenda for the Northwest.
The statement emphasized that the first joint meeting of the North West Governors with UN officials enabled a wide range of opportunities to relate issues on health, education, security, agriculture, and other salient matters, overstretching the capacity of states.
“In their collective submissions, the North West Governors sought accelerated interventions by the United Nations through its agencies and volunteers to rescue the region from multiple concerns threatening the survival of the region.” The statement said:.
The statement also recalled that a similar call was made by the governor at a recent symposium in the United States.
“Recall that the North West Governors were recently hosted at a security symposium by the US Institute of Peace to broaden knowledge on strengthening conflict prevention in the region.
“The three-day US conference, attended by the governors of Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa,and Plateau states, was designed to support the states in addressing insecurity in Northern Nigeria and provide better options to mitigate the challenge.
“The intensive executive engagement enabled the governors of some of the troubled states to deepen their understanding of the dynamics of security threats, their socioeconomic dimensions, and near-term opportunities to drive stability in Northern Nigeria.
“The 2023 new crop of governors has, for the first time in the political history of the region, collectively agreed to nurture a regional development agenda in key areas of human endeavor under the leadership of Katsina State Governor Ummaru Dikko Radda.
On his part, the United Nations Country Team, led by the resident and humanitarian coordinator, Mohamed Malick Fall, expressed delight at receiving six of the seven governors in the zone.
Fall assured that the United Nations family will support the North West region to address those development challenges.
He noted that with the varied high level of multidimensional poverty, sustainable development goals would only be achieved in Nigeria if the North West got it right, and this in turn would impact positively on the African region.
