An elder statesman, Abdullahi Tanko Yakasai, has attributed the North-West region’s socio-economic challenges, including insecurity and poverty, to a lack of proper management and insufficient funding of the North West Development Commission (NWDC).
He warned that the situation could delay the Commission’s operations, months after its establishment.
In a statement yesterday, Yakasai said the North-West remains the only geo-political zone without a fully constituted management team among the six regional development commissions.
According to him, the Managing Director of the Commission, Shehu Abdullahi Ma’aji, is currently the only substantive appointee, with no executive directors, departmental heads or support staff in place to run basic administrative functions.
Yakasai contrasted the situation with developments in the South-West, where the South-West Development Commission (SWDC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to link the six states of the region by rail.
The elder statesman said that the NWDC, by comparison, had made limited progress since its creation earlier this year.
“Of all the six geopolitical zone commissions, the North-West is the only one without a functioning management structure,” Yakasai said, adding that while a board had been appointed, its role was limited to oversight.
He also raised concerns over funding, noting that the NWDC, like other newly established regional commissions, had yet to receive its statutory allocation from the Federal Government.
According to him, the absence of funding has constrained the commission’s ability to set up a secretariat, recruit staff and commence programme implementation.
Yakasai further disclosed that internal disagreements between the board chairman and the managing director were already affecting the commission’s take-off.
He cited delays in routine administrative decisions, including the selection of a temporary secretariat and approval of management submissions, as signs of internal strain within the agency.
The elder statesman, who said that despite the challenges, the Commission had developed proposals covering key areas, such as infrastructure, security, agriculture, human capital development and health, urged the Federal Government to complete the Commission’s management structure and release its statutory funding to enable it to function effectively.
He also called for clearer adherence to the separation of roles between the board and management, as well as mediation by regional leaders to address leadership tensions.
Meanwhile, as Yakasai lamented the dysfunctional status of the NWDC, Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, Seye Oyeleye, told The Guardian that although DAWN is a separate body, it serves as an intellectual hub supporting the SWDC.
According to Oyeleye, DAWN has been working closely with governors across the South-West region to stabilise the SWDC, bringing together regional experts and stakeholders to restore and even surpass the achievements of the Old Western Region of the First Republic.
