Governors of Nigeria’s Northwest states convened an emergency meeting late Friday at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House in Kaduna to address critical regional challenges, including rising insecurity and widespread drug abuse among youths.

The Chairman of the Northwest Governors’ Forum and Governor of Katsina State, Dr. Umar Dikko Radda, told journalists early Saturday morning that the leaders had resolved to strengthen collaboration in tackling these issues.

“We just concluded our meeting and the deliberation was very fruitful,” Radda said.

“We had a long discussion on issues bothering challenges affecting our region and we have had presentations from Northwest Development Commission, as well as the Federal Medical University, Funtua for the region.

“We also discussed on issues of drug abuse and how to prevent excessive use of drugs in the region and other collaborations. We have all agreed to work together on this issues raised, in order to bring the necessary development that is needed in the region.”

Host Governor Senator Uba Sani emphasized the joint commitment of the states to confront the region’s challenges.

He noted ongoing efforts with development partners to address poverty, unemployment, and other socio-economic problems holding back growth in the region.