North-west Zone Governors Discuss Economic Integration to Tackle Challenges
John Shiklam
Governors of the seven states in the North-west zone are set to work together for the economic integration of the zone to address the economic and social problems facing area.
Speaking during a plenary session at the Kaduna Investment forum yesterday, the governors of Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara and the deputy governor of Jigawa State said economic integration among the seven states - Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa and Zamfara woud go a long way in addressing the challenges facing the states.
Contributing to the discussions, the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said the seven states should identify economic advantages that can move the region forward.
He noted that this is the first time, since the inception of this democracy in 1999, when the seven governors (of the North-west zone ) decided to come together to form a forum.
“We even went to the extent of employing a consultant who is giving us the green light on various issues on economic development,” he said.
He said the zone is the most populous geopolitical zone, constituting 25 per cent of the population of Nigeria and occupying 23 per cent of the land mass in Nigeria.
Ganduje said: “What is required is the political will to come together and be fully integrated - socio economic integration beyond paper integration, integration that will bring development in terms of institutions and in terms of programmes that will improve the quality of lives of our people.”
He advocated the establishment of an integration commission which will look into the capacity of institutions, noting that if institutions are not developed, it will be impossible to achieve set goals.
Also contributing to the discussions, the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir ElRufai, said for the state, regional integration is inevitable.
He said unless the north west zone recognises its problems and come together to address the common challenges, the zone will continue to pull Nigeria backward.
Speaking further, he noted that on Wednesday, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, made certain observations about the state of northern Nigeria within the larger Nigeria context, stressing that “the truth of the matter is that when you look at human development in the indices of Nigeria, they hide alot of information, they saw us as middle income country, they saw that we are making progress in terms of education and health care.”
El-Rufai said: “When you disaggregate this number and look at them from zone to zone, from state to state, it is very revealing, it shows for, instance, that some states in Nigeria are as backward as Afghanistan in terms of education, health care and opportunities. And many of the states in the north west are afflicted with these challenges, so unless we recognise that within the larger Nigerian context, we have some common problems in this region.
“We have the largest number of out-of-school children, we have the largest number of girls not completing basic education, we have the lowest levels of women giving birth in hospitals and health clinics, we have the highest infant mortality rate, we have the highest maternity mortality and morbidity rate”