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By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri

The North East Development Commission, NEDC has on Wednesday organized a one-day Consultative meeting with representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the private sector on Stabilization and Development Plan, SDP in the region.

The meeting which took place at the Armani Events Centre in Maiduguri attracted stakeholders including those from the academia in the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe, where they brainstormed on the way forward to reposition for the better, considering the fact that the over decade atrocities posed by insurgents have ravaged the socio-economic development in the North East.

In his welcome address, the Managing Director of the NEDC, Alhaji Alkali Goni said, the meeting is timely, in view of the gradual return of relative peace in the region, and the determination of the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to rebuild, reconstruct and resettle millions of people back to their liberated communities.

His words: ” Today’s meeting with critical stakeholders is timely, in view of the gradual return of relative peace in the northeast, and the determination of the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to rebuild, reconstruct and resettle millions of people back to their liberated communities.

“Agriculture is the economic mainstay of our people, and for us to achieve that, we need to get inputs from our critical stakeholders.

“As you can see the calibre of participants drawn from CSOs, Private sector, the Academia who had attended this crucial meeting with a view to offering suggestions or inputs on how to move the agricultural and educational sector of the region forward.

” In the interim, and being closer to the people at the grassroot, they will tell us what they want and how they want it so that all of us should be on the same page towards having a well balanced, critical and articulated ideas”. Goni stated.

In his goodwill message, the President of Borno Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed Ashemi thanked NEDC for organizing such a crucial meeting which brought together all critical stakeholders to brainstorm of Development Plan for the region.

He recalled that prior to the emergence of Boko Haram, Borno and other states of the region were thriving trade and commerce hubs in manufacturing goods and services in Nigeria and countries of Cameroun, Niger, Chad, Sudan and the Central Africa Republic.

The region according to him was also a major livestock, fish and crop production and marketing centre supplying commodities to other populations of Nigeria and West Africa, but at the advent of the insurgency, the business communities in the region were the first casualty with members subjected to indiscriminate extortion and blackmail by the insurgents to finance their nefarious activities.

He, therefore, said, this critical interactive session with government, INGOs, and other key stakeholders and economic sector developers, of which NEDC is key, will not only bring out the roadmap of NEDC towards its mandate but will also be the beginning of the useful and fruitful journey and success to sustainable development in the region.