Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar has appealed to Nigerians in the Diaspora donor agencies and other development partners to help towards the development of post-insurgency Northeast Nigeria.
He made in the call when he received a group of 18 Afro-Americans who paid him a courtesy at the government house in Bauchi Monday.
Governor Abubakar who was quoted in a statement by his Press Secretary, Abubakar Al-Sadique, said the North Eastern region, suffered the activities of Boko Haram insurgency more than any other part of the country which made it the most “disadvantaged with higher infant/maternal mortality rates and out of school children.
“the recent World Bank report says Bauchi tops the list of out of school children in the country but I challenge those figures. What the World Bank didn’t consider is that Bauchi state has accommodated higher internally displaced persons than any state of the federation, and the data the Bank relies on to pass this verdict was generated long time ago,”he said.
According to the governor, the entire Northeast requires urgent world attention in terms of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration of the internally displaced people.
“In healthcare delivery there is deficit. There is paucity of healthcare facilities especially in rural areas where many could not quickly access health centres and the services they render,” he said.
He explained that Bauchi state government is making efforts to turn around every sector especially the health sector to make healthcare available and affordable to the common man.
“We therefore welcome any form of assistance from you, Nigerians in the Diaspora, donor organizations and development partners, especially now that the country is coming out of recession,” Governor Abubakar stressed.
He however lamented the poor state of infrastructural which he said informed his administration’s decision to embark on my road construction to open up the state.
The governor assured that the state government is ready to do business with anybody wishing to invest in the state adding that, enabling laws have been put in place to ease doing business in the state.
Speaking earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Abide Debiri-Erewa explained that the group of Afro Americans was in Nigeria to re-engage the country because of the group’s belief that only Africans could develop the continent.
She disclosed that it was a great experience for the Afro Americans to put their feet on their ancestral land.
She disclosed that the visitors had earlier made a stopover at Badagry and had a glimpse of the channel through which African slaves were taken to the United States of America.
The group of 18 Afro-Americans led by Mr. David Anderson passed a night at the famous Yankari Games Reserve.
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