Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni has established three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to boost infrastructure and healthcare delivery across the state’s 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

According to him, the newly created MDAs are strategic to the state’s local economy in the roads, health, and power sectors.

The Director General, Press and Media Affairs to the Governor, Mamman Mohammed, stated on Thursday in Damaturu that the established MDAs comprise the Yobe State Rural Electrification Commission (YREC), Yobe State Agency for Drugs and Rehabilitation (YADR), and the Yobe State Urban Development Agency (YUDA).

The DG added that the newly established MDAs bring to a total of 23 MDAs for public service delivery in the state, including the five border communities with Niger Republic.

Besides their establishment by the state government, Mamman stated that YREC is to expand access to electricity in rural and underserved communities by hooking them to the national grid with renewable energy solutions.

He said the interventions are expected to stimulate socio-economic activities, enhance security and significantly improve the quality of life of citizens in the state.

He added that the YADR will address the growing challenge of drug abuse and substance dependency through coordinated prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration programmes.

“The health agency will also strengthen public health, youth development, and social stability,” he said.

Similarly, the Yobe State Urban Planning Development Agency (YUPDA) will provide a structured framework for orderly urban growth, infrastructure development, environmental management, and sustainable urban planning, in line with modern development standards and best practices.

In other news, the Yobe State Government has begun disbursing scholarships and bursaries to 28,346 eligible students for the 2025/2026 academic session.

According to him, this year’s scholarship payments were increased by 100 per cent to enable students to complete their studies in the various institutions of higher learning.

Buni, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Scholarship Board (YOSB), Dr Kagu Abubakar, stated on Friday in Damaturu that the scholarship awards approved by Buni are an initiative that will directly impact 28,346 indigent students studying in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

The ES further revealed that under the new scholarship scheme, postgraduate students will receive ₦110,000, up from ₦55,000 a session, while undergraduate students will receive ₦46,000, and HND, NCE and National Diploma students will collect the sum of ₦34,000 instead of ₦17,000, representing an increase of 100 per cent in the bursary payments this year.

“Students in other Diploma and Certificate programmes will receive ₦26,000, up from ₦13,000,” he added.

According to him, the increment is amid the prevailing economic realities, including the rising cost of education in the country.
He described the Buni administration’s intervention as one of the most significant of its kind by any state government since 2001.