North East Facing Extreme Poverty –Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and the Federal Ministry of Regional Development to maintain the tempo in driving the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP) to wriggle the North East from poverty.

Shettima spoke on Thursday during a meeting with the management team of NEDC who came to brief him on the level of work on the ASSEP project at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Noting that by investing in education, NEDC was writing its name in gold, he stated: “The base of poverty in Nigeria is found in the North. And if the North East of Nigeria were to be treated as a country, we would be poorer than Chad; we are poorer than Niger. The North East of Nigeria is poorer than Afghanistan. It’s one of the poorest places on earth.

“The World Bank described the North East of Nigeria, the Republic of Chad, the Darfur region of Sudan, the Republic of Niger and Northern Cameroon as some of the poorest places on earth, hence the emergence of militant organisations like the Janjaweed militia and Boko Haram.”

He said posterity would judge the commission fairly for going beyond infrastructure development to invest in education and green technology through the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP).

He described ASSEP as the actual game changer in the age and time, pointing out that education is the greatest leveler through which even a son of a peasant could become a celebrated icon.

In a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, he said, “I want to commend the management of NEDC, the ministry and of course, Dr. Masha for doing an awesome job and promoting ASSEP. There are two things that the North East Development Commission is committed to that posterity will judge them kindly.

“Yes, intervention in infrastructure is good, but this ASSEP and the likely investments in green technology will fully change the landscape.”

The vice president applauded generative platforms introduced by ASSEP, like the Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, saying they are going along in revolutionising the learning experience, offering numerous benefits for students, educators and institutions because of enhanced engagement and motivation.

Shettima implored the NEDC, the Federal Ministry of Regional Development and other relevant stakeholders to collaborate to ensure efficiency.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, said ASSEP is an initiative aimed at enhancing secondary education across the region, which aligns with the administration’s broader agenda to improve learning standards nationwide.

Managing Director of NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, highlighted the commission’s intervention in the educational sector with a specific focus on human capital development across the region.

He said the NEDC had commenced the process of reviving teacher training/education in the region and has established a unit within the commission to handle training and capacity building across the educational ecosystem.