Communique at first consultative meeting of North-East Nigeria governors on March 5, 2020 at Gombe

Adamawa State Governor Fintiri, left, with his colleagues at the meeting

After the North east governors meeting at Gombe on March 5, 2020, the following were agreed.

1 – The forum noted with satisfaction the establishment of North East Development Commission NEDC and thanked Mr President, the National Assembly and all Nigerians for this monumental humanitarian support for the region. The forum is committed to provide all the necessary support to the commission with a view to meeting its objectives.

2 – The forum directed the Attorney Generals of all the states to look into the possibility of enhancing security in the subregion within the ambit of law.

3 – The forum demands that all project that are to be implemented by North East Development Commission NEDC should be delivered through a demand driven approach that takes into consideration our unique needs and priorities.

4 – The forum agreed that local content development is key to our success and we are committed to support local content initiatives in all development projects.

5 – We agreed to support initiatives that will ensure the success of the Manbilla power project in order to ensure improved productivity of the subregion and Nigeria at large.

6 – We agreed to look into the possibility of regional power generation and to examine the ownership of electricity distribution companies among other things.

7 – The forum discussed extensively with Lafarge Holcim, the owners of Ashaka cement company on the need to address the existing road infrastructural deficit by taking advantage of the executive order seven of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

8 – The forum agreed to examine the agricultural potentials of the region and to conduct base line studies with a view to providing the robust agricultural value chain in order to address food security both in the region and the country at large.

9 – The forum decried the deplorable condition of the lake chad basin and called on the federal government to come up with comprehensive water resource management plan that will fast track the process of water transfer from the Congo River while we commit to collaborating on desilting of the basin and distributaries as part of the activation process.

10 – The forum resolved to key into the environmental initiatives of the federal government of Nigeria including the Great Green World and other afforestation programmes.

11 – The forum praised the federal government of Nigeria on the ongoing oil exploration and thanked the National Assembly and Nigerians at large on the real interest of hydrocarbon in the north east subregion. The forum further appreciated the understanding of Nigerians of our unique circumstances and wholly commit to deepening community engagements in the processes involved throughout the subregion.

12- The forum agreed to establish a technical working committee to implement all the actions agreed upon.

13 – The forum agreed to meet quarterly.

14 – The forum agreed to meet in Maiduguri in the middle of April so that we cover the loss gaps and make sure that quarterly in the times to come ahead we sustain the meetings as required.