By Ibrahim Sani Shawai
The establishment of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) in a broader sense aims to support the region’s Governments’ efforts at reducing poverty which is critical to reaching regional targets of all stakeholders towards improving the welfare, wellbeing and the human capital outcomes of estimated population of 60 million people which is 28% of the country’s population, occupying 23% of the total landmass of the country.
North West Nigeria is fortunate to have this Commission coming at a time the region is in dire need of aggressive interventions that will help reset it for greater height in terms of Agriculture, Infrastructure, Human capital development, Community and rural development, Environmental protection and Solid minerals, Education, Health and Social services, Commercial and Industrial development and Youths and Women empowerment.
Without doubts, based on the capacity of the leadership of NWDC under Prof. Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji, the commission will facilitate the rapid and sustainable development of the North-West into a region that is economically prosperous and agriculturally viable.
With the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NWDC, Prof Shehu Ma’aji reiterating at any opportunity he gets that the commission will invest in human capital development, there is no gainsaying that the people of the region will benefit maximally from this Commission, vis-à-vis its mandate.
A strong focus on human capital development would help the region achieve higher economic growth and create jobs, improve quality of life of its population. Investment in human capital through the agriculture sector will unlock the potential of the region to access the needed solutions to the multidimensional poverty in the region.
With over 69.3% of households in the North-West States owning or raising livestock and the fact that the region has the highest population of ruminants in Nigeria, including cattle, sheep, and goats. Nigeria ruminant resources comprised 20,585,000; 47,926,000 and 84,039,000 heads of cattle, sheep and goats respectively. North West has the largest population with 48.21% of the total Tropical Livestock Units (TLUs). From the statistics above, it is clear that with NWDC’s pledge to leverage this comparative advantage, the people of the region would see improvement in livestock farming.
This means that more wealth would be created and the Gross Domestic Product of the North-West would be greatly enhanced looking at the increasing demand for meat and dairy products. The intervention in the livestock sector will help reduce unemployment statistics, meaning more youths would be gainfully employed through the initiatives and innovations of the NWDC in the livestock sector.
Based on plans highlighted by the NWDC to invest in the agriculture sector to maximise agricultural produce, cut waste and enhance value chain in the sector, farmers in the region would be empowered to be able to fight poverty, improve their wellbeing and get good value for their investment in agriculture.
Today, Nigeria is ranked the 5th largest producer of sorghum in the world behind the United States, India, Mexico and China and with the North-West being the largest producer of sorghum, wheat and amongst the major producers of millet, maize, soybeans, and cowpea, groundnut and sesame, the region can leverage the intervention from the NWDC to build mini processing factories to harness the value chain, reduce post harvest losses and boost incomes of smallholder farmers particularly women and youths who are the most vulnerable.
In the area of education, based on some of the things that the NWDC has outlined for the region in the sector, there will be massive upgrade of educational infrastructure that will complement what the state governments in the region are doing. In this way, the classrooms that had been destroyed as a result of the insecurity in the region will be rebuilt or reconstructed, creating a decent environment conducive for learning.
From all indications, the Endowment Fund is in the offing for students in the region as the Commission had also mapped out plans to resuscitate the region’s “devastated education sector” and rebuild the human capital.
The Fund would provide an avenue for children of the poor to access education through scholarships and other supports that will give children from the region a right to education.
Similarly, the Commission said it is committed to implementing impactful programs that drive economic empowerment, skill development, and sustainable growth for the region.This will translate into massive skilling of women and youths which remained one of the potent tools to empowering citizens out of poverty. With such initiatives, many of the residents of the North-West that will benefit from this empowerment schemes will be transformed into wealth generators in their own right.
It is obvious that no government anywhere in the world can employ all of its citizens but with the right platforms and skills which NWDC will bring on board, majority of the people in the region will exit poverty in a hurry, by the will of Allah.
With NWDC’s planned skilling, education, employment, and entrepreneurship ecosystem initiatives, there is no doubt that the move will bolster skill development and bridge the employability gap among the region’s growing young population.
With the Managing Director of NWDC, Prof. Ma’aji sharing his mind-set on different platforms that skills development is the only process where we can develop a well trained workforce for the development of the country, it will not be surprising to see more of the youths in the region acquiring skills in their large number. Soon, Ma’aji’s success in this regard will occupy national discourse and serve as a model for the country and beyond because of his passion for youth and manpower development.
Northwest Nigeria has some of the worst health indicators in the country, including malnutrition, as insecurity in the region has continued to worsen the situation. With the recent US’s cuts in funding for health interventions in Nigeria, there has been an urgent need for more resources to be committed into the sector towards ensuring that there is no gap or crisis in healthcare delivery.
NWDC’s intervention in this regard will help complement the region’s state governments’ efforts at tackling health challenges and revising the negative health indices in the region. In terms of support, the NWDC’s will boost infrastructural development and enhance primary and secondary health care for residents, especially in helping to improve the nutrition situation and reducing maternal and infant mortality.
With NWDC coming on board to support development in the Northwest, solid minerals and industrial development will be enhanced. The Northwest region has substantial deposits of minerals like gypsum, limestone, coal, and some metallic minerals, offering a potential source of revenue and economic development. With additional support from the NWDC, the region will be able to harness these resources to enhance economic growth which will, over time, contribute immensely to the sustainable development of the North-West.
With all these in the offing for the region, NWDC is really a blessing to the good people of the North-West and by all means, the people must rally round the leadership of NWDC to ramp up development of the region and inspire real growth that will improve the wellbeing and welfare of the ordinary man in every village across the states that make up the entity called North-West.
As it is said, protecting whatever benefits you is one way of preserving your peace in life, it is in this regard, that the good people of North-West must see NWDC as their own asset that must be protected for the overall benefit of everyone by embracing the programmes and interventions from the Commission for sustainable development.
Ibrahim Sani Shawai, a public analyst, writes from Kano and can be reached via shawai2000@yahoo.com
