Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The House of Representatives has continued to garner support towards the establishment of the North-East Development Commission to oversee the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the North east region, which has suffered the effects of the activities of Boko Haram.
A public hearing on the matter and other initiatives that would develop the region opened in Abuja Monday with the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, in attendance.
She presented a memorandum highlighting her support, to the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
Similarly, Yobe State Governor, Mr. Ibrahim Geidam sought that the headquarters of the proposed commission be cited in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital.
Represented by the State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Mohammed Lamin, the Governor explained that Damaturu is bereft of federal presence, and is more suited for administrative purposes than Maiduguri.
“These three states (Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno) in addition to Gombe and Taraba have benefited from citing of federal projects like airports, river basin development projects, dams, zonal offices of federal departments and agencies, including zonal commands of the Nigeria Police, Immigration, Customs, Prisons Service, Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Boundary Commission etc with virtually none in Yobe State, which negates the principles of federal character,” Geidam argued.
Speaking earlier, Dogara, who declared the hearing open, harped on the urgent need to pursue the rehabilitation of the North-east.
He lamented that while there is no reliable institutional statistics on the region’s current poor infrastructure caused by insecurity due to the ongoing military operation, the damage cause by boko haram insurgency will drag the region almost a century backwards.
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