Hope rises for N/West as Barau’s NWDC takes off

By Andrew Oota

The much awaited initiation , passage and constitution of the membership and management of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) is today a reality .

The idea behind regional development commission under the Olusegun Obasanjo and Bola Ahmed Tinubu administrations speak to the compelling needs to foster sustainable regional growth.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, although withheld his assent to the Niger Delta development Commission (NDDC) bill , was vetoed by two-thirds of members of the National Assembly who saw the bill as one way to address the challenges of the oil-rich region that has suffered land, air and water pollution for decades .

President Muhammadu Buhari had signed into law, the North East Development Commission without and today , President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved one for North West and South East respectively .

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Whether the Niger Delta Development Commission which has been in existence for for over one decade has actually addressed the yearnings and aspirations of the region complementing a dedicated ministry of Nigeria Delta are issues for another time .

The North West Development Commission can be rightly regarded as the brain child of the Deputy President of the Senate Jubrin Barau as sponsor of the bill.

This is undoubtedly in recognition of the barrage of challenges faced by the North West zone with the highest number of states that’s clearly translates into its massive population and electoral value.

The deputy Senate President had succinctly spoke about the need for the commission with the view to forging and fashioning ways ,policies and programmes that will directly address the challenges ,needs and expectations of the people of North West .

The North West which comprises Kaduna, Kano,Kebbi,Jigawa,Sokoto and Zamfara have collectively experienced sustained banditry attacks and other forms of criminalities that has affected the very fabric of development in those states .

The quality of roads , schools ,hospitals ,education of the girl child as well as out of school children in the North West clearly does not represent the value the zone brings to electoral activities and these formed the basis for the Senator Barau’s concerns .

The North West undoubtedly prides itself as major contributor to food security in Nigeria, but sadly it has not been able to effectively make expected impacts because of the activities of Boko Haram insurgents and bandits that have consistently taken advantage of the porous international borders of states like Kebbi, Sokoto ,Katsina etc to thwart every effort .

While the activities of insurgents is a national menace , the case of the North West appears to be more precarious giving the on-going daily attacks in Zamfara ,the kidnappings in Kaduna , the Karawa activities in Sokoto , Kebbi ,Katsina and bombings in Kano that have sent many into misery and needless loss of lives .

The Deputy Senate President did not only sponsor the NWDC, he demonstrated courage and commitment by ensuring that the bill was not just passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly , but it was also signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose favourable disposition to regionalization cannot be over emphasized through his policies and programmes that seeks to strengthen the regions and reduce over dependence of the central government.

Suffice to say that the responsibility of the NWDC is clearly spelt out. What informed it’s establishment was well laid down by Senator Barau when he argued that
The Noth West as a region had contributed immensely to the overall development of Nigeria in terms of Agriculture and other areas of endeavour yet the region remains hugely undeveloped.

He was clear-headed that, “What the region requires now from the federal government is the support to develop infrastructure and educate it’s seeming youths so as to drive the process of developing the zone in it’s entirety in order to grow at per with the more developed zones in the country .

“The infrastructure of the zone has been immensely destroyed by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, armed bandits and kidnappers across the region leading to exodus of investors,businessmen ,managers of companies and employees . The destruction is having a major impact on the economy of the region as it has led to severe food shortages , unemployment in the region that has traditionally produced cash and food crops across the sahel. Also,some parts of the region are currently facing the problem of desertification. All these have contributed to make agriculture and other economic activities to suffer thereby creating more poverty in the zone”.

Senator Barau took a step further to assert that certain challenges can only be addressed by the Government at the center when he averred that,
“The federal government is in the right position to show concern in the face of the plethora of problems and challenges facing this geo-political zone by creating the North West commission to appropriately address the developmental needs of the zone”.

While the North West Development Commission is constituted and it’s management approved by the Senate as required by the establishing Act, the agency is expected to focus on catalyzing significant growth ,economic empowerment and social development that will improve the lives and wellbeing of the people .

The President has done his beat by showing unwavering supporting to regions to grow ,what is left is the new thinking that will give meanings to these efforts; this new thinking must factor-in the interest of the generality of the people. Those in authorities must birth ideas and implement policies that aligns with the vision of those who toyed to see this commission a reality.

It is important to note that as parliamentarians representing the 109 Senatorial zones and 360 federal constituency, it is expected that the interest of there Senatorial zones and federal constituencies must be protected at all times .

Deputy Senate President Jubrin Barau May have sufficiently demonstrated the courage and loyalty to this undisputed fact, but the patriotism to drive the gains made by the establishment of the NWDC rests with the technocrats and professionals enlisted into the headship of the commission .

The stories from the Niger Delta Development Commission early falls below expectations, but a new thinking will reset the NDDC and challenge it .

The NDDC is a wrong example of the desire of successive administrations to trigger regional developments through commissions, but this is not to say other commissions cannot deliver on there mandates.

The North East is neither there , but all eyes are now on the North West Development Commission as well as the South East Development Commission to be able to give compelling reasons for the coming on board of the North Central Development Commission and a likelihood of a South West commission with distinct mandates .

The South East is a region devastated by basically erosions that has not only affected farming but also posted a grave danger to infrastructure developments.

A week ago, the Senate unanimously approved the nominees for the NWDC, budgetary allocations have already been made for its takeoff what is now left is for the management to hit the ground running after inauguration by the President .