By Charly Agwam

The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has inaugurated and inspected several development projects across Gombe State, marking a significant milestone in efforts to improve healthcare, education, and social welfare in the region.

The projects were inaugurated over the weekend by the Minister of State for Regional Development, Alhaji Uba Ahmed, who led a delegation to various sites across the state.

Among the projects inspected was a 40-bed maternity ward at Bogo Quarters in Akko Local Government Area. The facility includes delivery rooms, antenatal and postnatal wards, a theatre, and a dispensary, and is designed to enhance maternal and child healthcare services.

The commission also inaugurated a Central Medical Stores facility equipped with cold rooms, offloading bays, sorting areas, and administrative offices to strengthen medical supply management and distribution across the state.

At Gombe State University, four newly constructed lecture halls, each with a seating capacity of 150 students, were inaugurated to reduce pressure on existing facilities and improve the learning environment.

The delegation further visited Government Secondary School (GSS), Malam Sidi, in Kwami Local Government Area, where 19 classroom blocks, an administrative block, a 250-capacity examination hall, student hostels, laboratories, staff quarters, a library, dining facilities, perimeter fencing, and a gatehouse were rehabilitated.

Ahmadu Gombe Secondary School in Gombe Local Government Area also benefited from new and renovated facilities, including administrative blocks, laboratories, computer and skills acquisition centres, classrooms, examination halls, corps members’ lodge, and staff quarters.

In the health sector, major projects at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe, were inspected. These include an MRI housing facility, a 180-bed student hostel, an ENT complex, and a fully equipped trauma centre.

Commending the commission’s efforts, Alhaji Uba Ahmed said the NEDC was performing well, noting that any challenges encountered were likely related to timing and delivery and did not constitute serious concerns.

Deputy Governor of Gombe State, Manassah Jatau, expressed appreciation to the President, the Ministry, and the Federal Government for the interventions, saying the projects would significantly support education and healthcare delivery in the state.

“We will sustain and maintain these facilities. I urge the benefiting communities to preserve them in the same condition as they were at the time of inauguration,” Jatau said.

Also speaking, a community leader, Ahmadu Waziri, said the projects would boost socio-economic development in the state and praised the NEDC for its interventions in critical sectors.

“The commission has done well and continues to do well. Nine years is a significant milestone, and I am satisfied with what I have seen so far,” he said.