…Says FG’s initiatives to tackle challenges in north-west underway
Vice President Kashim Shettima said Wednesday that the northern part of the country needs re-engineering and re-strategizing to fast-track its development.
The Vice President said this when he received a coalition of Northern States Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (CONSCCIMA) led by its president, Malam Dalhatu Abubakar, in his office at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“We have to go back to the drawing board, re-assess the state of affairs in the North and come up with robust platforms of re-engineering our society.
“It is imperative for the north to embark on the re-strategizing and re-engineering of the region in order to reposition it for accelerated development.
“Most of the issues highlighted by the President of CONSCCIMA are very poignant as these are issues that touch the lives and wellbeing of our people,” he said.
He said any society that seeks to achieve economic development must cultivate peace and stability.
“There can never be development without peace and there can never be peace without development,” he said.
The Vice President commended President Bola Tinubu for his passion to address development issues and security challenges in the North, especially in the North-west, through the Pulaku initiative.
“The Pulaku initiative is a robust solution towards addressing the challenges in the North-West. It is a solution aimed at addressing the challenges of armed banditry, kidnapping and the situation in the North-West which cannot be divorced from the issue of governance. Poor governance has a direct bearing on what we are harvesting in the North-West,” he said.
He also commended the leadership of CONSCCIMA for its commitment to the development of the north through various industrial projects.
In his remarks, President of CONSCCIMA Malam Dalhatu Abubakar said the organisation was ready to partner with the federal government towards the revitalization of the economy in the north.
He highlighted some projects that can help to galvanize the economy of the north including the revival of our moribound industries and setting up of new ones, establishment of pharmaceutical industries, modular refineries; recharging of Lake Chad; completion of Mambila Power and other power projects; and the acquisition of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company, among others.
