The Senate has passed for second reading bills seeking establishment of North West Development Commission (NWDC) and the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund.
They were passed for second reading following debates on their general principles during plenary on Thursday.
Leading debate on the proposed NWDC, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, who sponsored it, said the proposed agency when established would serve as a catalyst to develop the arrays of potential of the North West as well as address the gap in infrastructural development of the region.
He lamented that the infrastructure of the zone had been immensely destroyed by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, bandits and kidnappers, leading to the exodus of investors, businessmen, managers of companies and employees.
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The destruction is having a major impact on the economy of the region as it has led to severe food shortages and unemployment in a region that has traditionally produced cash and food crops across the Sahel, he said.
He added that some parts of the region are facing the problem of desertification which makes agriculture and other economic activities suffer, thereby creating more poverty in the zone.
On the proposed NYSC Trust Fund, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, who sponsored the bill, said the Fund would help in the area of financing of skills acquisition and entrepreneurship for corps members as startup capital and invariably helped in making them to be employers of labour and not just job seekers after the national service.
