From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum ( NSGF) and the Governor of Gombe state, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, has said that security is crucial to the development and well-being of the citizens, without which there will be no development in the security.
Yahaya asserted this at the inaugural meeting of the Northern States Governors Forum, (NSGF), held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim’s house, yesterday in Kaduna.
He said security and development are connected and we must afford them collectively, without security there will be no development
The Governor opined that investors can only invest in an environment where there are assets and resources are secure.
He added that “physical infrastructures like roads, bridges as well as human capital investments, education, and health can only flourish in an atmosphere where peace and security exist.
“Our people can only go to farms and pursue other economic livelihoods and other social activities when their safety is guaranteed.”
Governor Yahaya urged all the 19 Northern Governors to stand united in their commitments to addressing these challenges through enhanced collaboration with security agencies by strengthening local law enforcement.
He added that community engagement, adoption of modern technology, and legal and administrative reforms can help in addressing the root causes of insecurity, such as unemployment and deepening social inequality.
“It is this shared interest in the economic development of our region, that informed our commitments to repositioning the Nigeria Development Company (NNDC,) which plays a significant role in the economic development of Northern Nigeria.
“NNDC have a crucial role to play as we seek to revive, and diversify our ailing economy to enhance regional competitiveness explore new opportunities, and create jobs for our teaming youth.
“We intend to double on the efforts of my predecessors in other to cushion NNDC and all its subsidiaries and put them on the part of sustainable goals and long-term responsibility”, he stated.
Continuing, he said: “Beyond the NNDC, we must explore ways to harness our comparative advantage, in agriculture, and solid minerals to propel our reasoning forward, we must pay keen attention to changing global dynamics in other to keep our emerging trends.
“As we continue the work done by my predecessor on transformation, renewable energy, partnership in banking and finance, industrialization
It is my firm belief that by leveraging”.
The Governor also stressed the urgent need to address the environmental challenges affecting the Northern side, where the triumph of climate change, unsustainable agricultural practice, and population exploding has plagued the communities.
“We must share collective efforts to address the issues of insecurity by adopting policies that promote sustainable agriculture, rural resilience, conflict mitigation, and responsible resource management”, he added.
Yahaya therefore advised the governors to take advantage of the financial opportunities available to the state to harness their diverse energy potentials.
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