Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum Tuesday assured of the implementation of the master plan project for the North-East region being developed by the North East Development Commission (NEDC).
He spoke in Abuja at the consultative meeting with federal ministries, departments and agencies and security Agencies on the North East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan project.
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He said to address the challenges of increasing poverty, infrastructural deficit and climate vulnerabilities, there was the need to have a strong and sustainable master plan.
“The most important phenomenon in reducing the insurgency is for somebody to be resilient enough. Beyond resilience, you also need to provide infrastructure in addressing the root causes of insurgency which are not limited to endemic poverty. When you address the root causes, you can defeat insurgency.
“The plan will transcend the planners and outlive us. It’s meant to be our testament to rise from the doggedness of destruction into the bright and welcoming peace and development,” Zulum said.
Managing Director, NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, said the master plan should contain programmes and schemes that promote and facilitate the physical and socio-economic development of the zone as well as provide estimates of the time and costs of implementing the programmes and schemes.
Chairman, NEDC, Paul Tarfa, said the cost of rebuilding the zone was high, stressing the need for all stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors, to garner resources to rebuild the insurgency-torn zone.