The North-East Youths Discussion Cycle (NEYDC) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the tenure of managing director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Goni Alkali, whose tenure ends soon.
NEYDC added that extending Alkali’s tenure is necessary for the sustenance of achievements recorded by the commission through the numerous projects and upliftment programmes it had executed in the six states of the North-East.
The youth group made the appeal yesterday in Maiduguri when NEYDC chairman, Prince Mohammed Sani Hassan, hosted members to unveil the achievements recorded by the NEDC under the leadership of Alkali in the six states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba and Bauchi.
Addressing the gathering, Hassan said, “My fellow brothers, sisters and friends from the six states of the North-East,
as we are all aware, the establishment of the NEDC in October 2017 by President Buhari was solidly to lead the reconstruction of the North-Eastern region among other missions, which you will believe that the said objective has been achieved in so many ways.
“This is not unconnected to the giant strides of the commission to ensure transparency and accountability of resources allocated to it for the benefit of the entire people of the region, under the able leadership of Alkali.
“Alkali is a true leader whose ambition has been to deliver the mandate that is in line with the vision and mission of the NEDC.
“Under his leadership, the NEDC has strategically been assessing, reviewing, and implementing key strategic programmes that have catalyse the poverty matrix in the North-East region, some of which include the development of the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP), is an all-inclusive roadmap for the Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, Reactivation, Replacement, Reconstruction, Resettlement, Renewal, Regeneration, Redevelopment and Sustainable Growth of the North-East zone.”
The masterplan, according to him, focused on both alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable growth and development using transformative projects and programmes.
Enumerating some other notable humanitarian and development projects spearheaded by the commission’s managing director, Hassan said they include: “The ongoing construction of 3,500 mass housing units for the resettlement of the IDPs with 1,000 units already completed; capacity building for over 4,000 youths in Information and Communication Technology, ICT, to improve access to ICT in the North-East through the establishment of ICT Resource Centres, targeted at supporting ICT penetration with the hope to resuscitate the region economically in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
“Under Alkali’s good leadership qualities, the NEDC has intervened in the areas of agriculture, WASH, health, key infrastructure, such as bridges, schools among others.”
