No need for NEDC

A bill seeking to establish a North East Development Commission [NEDC] introduced into the Senate last year by Senate Leader Ali Ndume and 17 other senators has already scaled through first and second readings. The third reading of the bill is scheduled for May 25 as the senators work towards its passage before June 9. […]

A bill seeking to establish a North East Development Commission [NEDC] introduced into the Senate last year by Senate Leader Ali Ndume and 17 other senators has already scaled through first and second readings. The third reading of the bill is scheduled for May 25 as the senators work towards its passage before June 9. Another bill, also for the establishment of the same commission, was presented in the House of Representatives on December 14, 2015 and has passed second reading.
This second bill was sponsored by 88 lawmakers led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, who stepped down from the Chair to lead debate on the bill. The House had earlier passed a resolution asking President Muhammad Buhari to establish a development commission for the areas affected by insurgency. The bill seeks to charge the proposed commission with the responsibility to “receive and manage funds from allocation from the federation account and international donors for the settlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, houses, and business premises of victims of insurgency and for other matters connected therewith.”
According to Dogara, thousands of citizens have been killed while 2.2 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North East. Wife of the President Mrs Aisha Buhari and governors of the six North East states also lent their support for the establishment of the North-east Development Commission. Mrs Buhari’s position was contained in a memorandum she presented at a public hearing on the matter organized by the House of Representatives committee on IDPs, Refugees and North-east Initiatives. These flurries of activities come hot on the heels of the gradual return of peace to the North-East region, the epicentre of the insurgency. Recent successes recorded in the fight against the insurgents by the military has brought about the need for the reconstruction of the region.
We have always advocated that all local, national and international hands must be on deck to help this war ravaged region of our country back to its feet after the devastating Boko Haram war. We congratulate the North East senators, governors, Speaker Dogara, the North East Representatives as well as Mrs Aisha Buhari for their show of concern and their efforts to speed up the region’s reconstruction. However, we do not believe that the creation of a North East Development Commission is the best way to do this.
At the very least, we must look at the example of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which was set up to accelerate the development of the oil producing but environmentally devastated Niger Delta region. Despite the billions of naira being sunk into it, NDDC has not achieved anything meaningful in its assigned task. Instead, the region’s elite have turned NDDC into a goldmine which awards bogus contracts for which money is collected only for the work to be abandoned.
There are six state governments and dozens of local government area councils in the North East region. In addition, Federal Government agencies of all types are present in the region. They are well placed, in our opinion, to carry out all the needed rehabilitation, resettlement and reconstruction work. If they are not doing their work, they should be made to do it. Adding another layer of bureaucracy to the mix is not the way to go to achieve the great task of rebuilding the North East.
 Certainly, there aren’t enough resources available to undertake the task but the government agencies are complemented by the Victims Support Fund. Aliko Dangote recently pledged N2 billion for the victims and the World Bank has also pledged funds to help in the reconstruction. We expect a lot more international help in the weeks and months ahead. All the resource donations should be channelled through existing government agencies as well as NGOs. We do not need a North East Development Commission.