If you were to ask Roger Martin, one of the sharpest strategic minds of our time, about the Northwest Development Commission (NWDC), the first question that might come to mind would be: Where is the region’s intended place to win? In other words, what exactly is the NWDC’s winning aspiration? What do the leaders of this commission see as their guiding North Star? It is a question that echoes far beyond the confines of corporate boardrooms and has profound implications for the future of regional development in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, as we look at the current trajectory of the NWDC, it seems there’s been little thought given to this question. The first major move made by the commission, the announcement of scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students to study abroad, seems to be more about optics than substance. In a region where millions of children are out of school, where poverty and insecurity reign, and where the most basic elements of development infrastructure are woefully lacking, the decision to focus on foreign scholarships is not only a misplaced priority but a symptom of deep-seated strategic confusion.
This, I fear, may be the beginning of another tragic story, one that mirrors the fate of the defunct OMPADEC (Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission) or the now discredited NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission). The very agencies that were established with lofty promises of transforming regions into engines of economic growth, only to falter and fail under the weight of political mismanagement, corruption, and a lack of focus on the real issues facing the people.
A Moment of Opportunity, Missed
The establishment of the NWDC was supposed to mark a moment of great promise for the Northwest region, a chance to reimagine development and break free from the shackles of underdevelopment. However, with each decision, the commission appears to be veering further from that path. From the very start, its approach has been uninspired, disjointed, and dangerously disconnected from the realities on the ground.
What the commission should have done is take a long, hard look at the region’s fundamental challenges. The Northwest is home to some of the poorest states in the country, with high levels of illiteracy, unfulfilled basic educational needs, poor healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, and, of course, extreme insecurity. These problems are not hidden. They are the region’s very DNA. Yet, instead of making a concerted effort to address these fundamental issues, the commission has opted to throw money at scholarships, a temporary fix, at best, and a hollow distraction, at worst.
Think of it this way: imagine a fire raging in your house, the walls crumbling and the roof about to collapse. But instead of putting out the fire or reinforcing the structure, you decide to repaint the front door. It’s absurd, it’s misguided, and it will do absolutely nothing to address the real, pressing problems. This is precisely what the NWDC is doing. Scholarships might be well-intentioned, but they are not what the region needs right now. A region struggling with such deep systemic issues requires solutions that go beyond education abroad. What the commission should have focused on were interventions that strengthen the region’s institutions, create jobs, promote education at the grassroots, and most importantly, address the entrenched issues of insecurity and economic instability.
Where Is the Regional Development Strategy?
When it comes to regional development, having a clear strategy is not just important; it’s absolutely essential. Dr. Zainab Usman’s ideas on economic diversification in Nigeria should be a blueprint for any development agency, but unfortunately, the NWDC does not seem to have grasped that fundamental principle. Usman has argued convincingly that the country must diversify its economy away from oil and focus on sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services. For a region like the Northwest, which has tremendous agricultural potential, this should be the starting point. A diversified, inclusive approach that taps into the region’s comparative advantage in agriculture could have the potential to lift millions out of poverty. But that will only happen if a thoughtful, well-coordinated strategy is put into place, something that seem to be sorely lacking from the NWDC’s current direction.
The commission should have focused on sector-specific strategies that could generate employment for the youth, enhance local capacities, and improve the region’s infrastructure. From revamping agricultural value chains to addressing vocational training and technical skills, from creating an enabling environment for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to tackling the chronic power and transport deficits, these are the kinds of issues that need to be tackled if the region is to have a chance at true, sustainable development.
Yet, instead of championing such an approach, the NWDC has chosen to focus on symbolic gestures that lack strategic depth. It’s as though the commission has simply decided to allocate funds without asking the more difficult questions: What does the Northwest need? What are the real bottlenecks to growth? And where do we place our bets for long-term success?
The answer to these questions is not scholarships. It’s not about sending a few students abroad for an education they may or may not return from to contribute to the region’s development. It’s about building a cohesive development plan that focuses on job creation, access to education at the grassroots level, infrastructure development, and policy reforms that can make a tangible difference.
The Danger of Misplaced Priorities
As Stefan Dercon, a noted development economist, has often pointed out, effective regional development requires more than just throwing money at problems. It requires political will, institution building, and long-term commitments that go beyond short-term fixes. It is about creating an environment in which local actors—both public and private—can work together to tackle challenges and generate shared prosperity.
The NWDC, at this juncture, seems to be dangerously misaligned with these principles. The current approach is simply too shallow. By focusing on programs that provide little to no lasting impact, it runs the risk of undermining its own legitimacy and perpetuating a cycle of unproductive interventions. This is not just a waste of resources—it is a betrayal of the people who need real, systemic change.
The region’s challenges are not academic. They are real. And they will not be solved by grand gestures, or by a handful of scholarships handed out to a few lucky individuals. They require a commitment to addressing the structural challenges of the region, and that commitment must start with a carefully articulated, coherent regional development strategy.
A Warning, Before It’s Too Late
The NWDC is not too late to course-correct, but if it continues on its current path, it risks becoming just another in a long line of failed development commissions. The OMPADEC and NDDC were meant to be game-changers, but in practice, they became breeding grounds for political patronage and mismanagement. The NWDC, in its current form, is showing troubling signs of following that same path.
Now, more than ever, the leaders of the NWDC need to ask themselves the hard questions: What are we trying to achieve? Where do we place to win? Until these questions are answered clearly and strategically, the commission will continue to float aimlessly, and the region will suffer as a result.
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