The North East Development Commission ( NEDC ) under the Leadership of Dr. Mohammed Alkali is not just a blessing to insurgency ravaged people of the North-east but a succour to the actual victims of the terrorism which saw over a million people displaced.
The commission through its various intervention projects in Borno, the epi centre of the Boko Haram crisis has lifted thousands of people out of poverty through empowerment programmes through various skills acquisition among the teeming youths who were ordinary before the establishment of the commission, willing tools to the terrorists.
In the health sector, the commission has equipped the major hospitals in the state among them, the state specialist hospital, the Nigerian Army hospital Maiduguri, the Umaru Shehu ultramodern hospital, the Federal nuorosychaitric hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital ( UMTH ) which is the greatest beneficiary of the NEDC intervention on the health sector in the state.
Just recently, NEDC in a bid to ensure that inaddition to other health issues, the eye and dental care of the citizens are taken care moved to rehabilitate and equipped the state’s dental and eye hospitals to bring the two health facilities in the state to a standard competeting with others across the globe.
During his assessment tour of the hospitals which were wearing obsolete equipment, Alkali said some of the planned interventions include general rehabilitation/renovation of the existing heath facility complexes ; planned construction of shared facilities for the two hospitals which include a general administrative complex for the two health facilities consisting of a library, conference room, staff lounge, staff canteen, staff offices, laundry facility, Laboratory complex, reinforced perimeter fencing, and furnished staff accommodation.
Others according to the NEDC boss include expansion and upgrading of the operation theatres for the two hospitals, provision of solar alternative power for the newly renovated operation suites, general plumbing and electrical works, provision of state-of-the-art equipment for both hospitals based on needs basis to support training of health workers and subsequent improved health services delivery, similar renovation and upgrade works are also planned for the Ophthalmology department of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital in Bauchi state.
This planned interventions in the two hospitals by the NEDC according to the State’s commissioner for health, Prof. Mohammed Arab cuts across the infrastructure, equipment as well as providing necessary support to see that the hospitals compete with any hospital of dental and eyes not only in Nigeria, but across the globe.
“ By the time these facilities are constructed and upgraded, they will be the centre of excellence. We appreciate the NEDC for coming in with a view to access and rebuild the hospitals, “ he said.
NEDC did not only stopped with the intervention at the two health but went further to give succor to the traders in the Maiduguri Monday Market whose goods worth billions of naira were destroyed by mysterious fire early morning preceding Presidential and National Assembly elections.
With the traders still nursing the wounds of the disaster, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development through the NEDC distributed food items to victims of the Market fire.
The presentation according to the Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar followed the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari who directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and North East Development Commission (NEDC) to liaise with each other and provide relief materials to the market fire victims immediately.
Then minister also said the ministry would carefully assess the extent of damage at the market with a view to forwarding to the Presidency for further necessary assistance and support.
The food items include 20,000 bags of rice, 20,000 bags of maize and 50,000 cartons of spaghetti.
It would be recalled that sometimes in 2019, because of the confidence he has on Dr Alkali, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a special Presidential intervention in Borno State (SPIB) in order to reduce the desperate situation that displaced communities in the state had found themselves through the construction of 10,000 houses and the establishment of Technical and Vocational Skills Acquisition Centres for the IDPs, amongst others. Towards the execution of SPIB, it was resolved that NEDC undertakes the construction of the first 1,000 houses and fully funded the equipping of the Technical and Vocational/Skills Centres around the state.
The commission constructed the first 1,000 houses at Ngowom village in Mafa local government area of the state and handed over the houses to the governor, Professor Baba Gana Zulum.
It also delivered a town with all social amenities; these are all the efforts of the commission to reflect on its mandate, and the decision to replicate same in the other five states of the region by the construction of 500 houses in each state while the commission started the construction of 500 houses to other states in the North-east. This started with Yobe state where the president performed the ground- breaking ceremony of constructing 250 houses in Damaturu, 50 in Buni Yadi, in Geidam 50 houses; in Potiskum, 50 houses; in Gashua, 50 houses; in Nguru, 50 houses.
The types of houses the commission built were of the cluster block style which consists of blocks of four units of 2-bedroom bungalows with veranda and courtyard. Each block sits on four hundred square metres with a fence separating each twin-facing houses with kitchens, toilets/bathrooms and ample space for home/domestic activities.
Additionally, the facilities were provided with street lights, reticulated water supply system, commercial spaces, among others.
NEDC has also impacted on the living condition of the internally displaced person’s and returnee IDPs in some LGAs communities of Borno state as part of the post insurgency rebuilding process where it donated 70,000 bags of foodstuff and relief materials to Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The relief materials facilitated the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their ancestral homes across the state according to the managing director of NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali.
Presenting the items in Maiduguri, the MD disclosed that the items were for immediate distribution to IDPs in camps and host communities.
He further explained that the return of displaced persons complies with the Kampala Convention in a secure way while the director general of Borno SEMA, Yabawa Kolo, said the items would support the state government to resettle the IDP returnees.
She noted that the cooking oil and other condiments would enable women cook nutritious food to those in camps for over a decade.
Similarly, in fulfilment of one of its mandate, NEDC had donated 38,000 bags of maize, rice, spaghetti and non-food items to the state government (BOSG) for onward distribution to about 66 repentant Boko Haram insurgents and their families as well as other victims of insurgency undergoing rehabilitation and deradicalisation exercises at the designated rehabilitation centres in the state.
While handing over the relief materials to the state government, NEDC chief executive officer, Alhaji Akali noted that the items were donated as support to the ongoing resettlement exercise of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the various IDP camps to their ancestral homes and communities across the state by the government.
Alkali said with the gradual return of peace to the North-east and efforts of the state government at resettling IDPs displaced by the insurgency in addition to the repentant insurgents who recently surrendered to troops, it became necessary for the commission to assist the entire region in having a seamless resettlement programme as part of the post insurgency rebuilding processes.
He added that although the federal government has constituted an inter-agency committee to ensure seamless return of IDPs and repentant insurgents, the commission deemed it necessary to provide palliatives to those in camps and the newly-resettled communities.
“We thought it very necessary to assist the state government in providing some palliatives in terms of food and non food items so that those who are around especially those in the camps and those who have moved back to their domain or resettled somewhere should be assisted before the federal government effort should materialise,” Alkali said.