By: Kamal Hammajo | August 31, 2025
The North-East region of Nigeria has for decades carried the heavy burden of insecurity, economic decline, poor infrastructure, and humanitarian crises. Once the backbone of agriculture and commerce, it has gradually become synonymous with displacement, unemployment, and underdevelopment. Against this backdrop, every effort to seek collective solutions stands out as both urgent and necessary.
The decision by the North-East Governors to come together and form the North-East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) in Gombe on March 5, 2020 remains a commendable and visionary move. At a time when the region was torn apart by insurgency, poverty, and underdevelopment, the Governors rightly recognized that no single State could face these challenges alone. The Forum was thus created to provide a common voice, pool resources, and chart a shared roadmap for security, infrastructure, and economic revival across the subregion.
Agendas and Promises Through the Years
From Gombe (2020) to Maiduguri (2023) and Jalingo (2025), the NEGF has repeated commitments in four key areas:
1. Security: Working with the military and communities to end insurgency and banditry.
2. Humanitarian Relief & Education: Resettling displaced persons, reintegrating out-of-school children, and supporting vocational training.
3. Infrastructure: Roads, power, and water systems to connect markets and revive commerce.
4. Agriculture & Economy: Harnessing the vast arable land to boost food security and job creation.
But a frank assessment shows a gap between declarations and delivery. Insurgency remains, though less intense in some areas. Humanitarian crises persist, with millions still displaced. Education initiatives are slow, and youth unemployment is rising. Above all, infrastructure promises, especially roads, have seen minimal progress, leaving the region isolated and stunted.
Present Realities and Future Possibilities
At their 12th meeting in Jalingo (August 2025), the Governors once again warned of looming flood and food crises. This is not new: floods have been predicted and experienced repeatedly, yet mitigation remains weak. History suggests that without a radical shift from communiqué to concrete action, these present plans may again remain on paper.
For the NEGF to succeed where it has so far faltered, certain measures are essential:
• Permanent Secretariat with Budgetary Backing: Like the South-West DAWN Commission, NEGF must establish a funded, technocratic secretariat that drives projects regardless of political changes.
• Flagship Projects per State: Each State should host at least one jointly funded project, a regional agro-processing hub, a road corridor, or a cross-border market, so progress is visible and measurable.
• Roads as Priority Number One: The deplorable state of highways, Gombe-Bauchi, Maiduguri-Damaturu, Jalingo-Numan, and others, is crippling the economy. The Forum should jointly lobby the Federal Government to declare North-East roads as “critical national infrastructure” under an emergency rehabilitation plan. Beyond lobbying, States could pool funds to co-finance regional roads while awaiting Federal intervention.
Role of Citizens, NGOs, and the Wealthy
Development cannot be left to Governors alone. The people of the North-East must demand accountability, monitor projects, and guard against corruption. NGOs and development partners should align interventions with NEGF’s stated priorities, supporting education, health, and livelihoods in sustainable ways. Wealthy individuals and philanthropists from the region must step beyond charity into structured investments: building schools, funding scholarships, and co-financing local industries.
A Call to the Governors
The North-East remains one of the most underdeveloped parts of Nigeria, not because of a lack of resources or ideas, but because of weak execution and fragmented efforts. The deplorable condition of roads stands as a physical and symbolic barrier: a region cut off, farmers unable to reach markets, patients stranded from hospitals, investors discouraged by endless potholes. If the NEGF achieves nothing else, it must achieve roads, because roads open the way for security, commerce, and unity.
Conclusion
The North-East Governors’ Forum was created with vision and foresight, and history will remember the Governors for that bold step. But history will also judge them not by the beauty of their communiqués, but by the tangibility of their achievements. If they can transform this platform into a driver of real change, by fixing roads, empowering youths, and reviving agriculture, their legacy will endure for generations. If they fail, the Forum will be remembered as a missed opportunity in a region that could not afford another disappointment.
As an economist, I hate seeing dumb communique on «proposals to battle (fix) the malaise of the North-east«
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I read the Communique, I stopped reading. A Communique without a Blueprint and a Project Tracker on the objectives identfied by NEGP, showing the objectives that have been completed and those that are in progress. Kamal, if you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you.
It's not an issue of believing or not, at closing I stated it clear that results count not paper Communique
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