Shettima: North Requires Re-engineering, Re-strategizing to Hasten Development

•Says govt initiative underway to address challenges in north-west

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has flayed the low level of development in the Northern part of the country saying much still needed to be done to fast track development in the area.

Speaking yesterday while playing host to a Coalition of Northern States Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (CONSCCIMA) led by its President, Mallam Dalhatu Abubakar, in his office at the State House, Abuja, Shettima declared “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.”

According to him “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”

Shettima, who was speaking to the leading industrialists and agents of change from the North, stated that “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.”

 The Vice President commended CONSCCIMA leadership for its commitment to the development of the north through various industrial projects that can effectively lead to development through partnership with the Federal Government.

He observed that any society that seeks to achieve economic development must cultivate peace and stability, restating that “there can never be development without peace and there can never be peace without development.”

Shettima hailed President Bola Tinubu as a visionary and committed democrat for his passion to seek and achieve development through addressing the challenges of insecurity in the North especially in the North-west through the Pulaku initiative.

Explaining the initiative, he said “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 stressed.

Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Mallam Abubakar, expressed the readiness of its organisation to seek partnership 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 to include the revival of our moribound industries and setting up of new ones; establishment of pharmaceutical industries,; establishment of modular refineries; recharging of the Lake Chad; completion of Mambila Power and other Power projects; acquisition  of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company.

In another development, the Vice President   reiterated the value of the traditional institution in the country.

Addressing a delegation led by the Chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, Rtd. Justice Sidi Bage Muhamamad I, Shettima expressed gratitude to the traditional rulers, the Government and people of the State for their love and support to President Tinubu during the last electioneering campaign.

Acknowledging the role of the traditional rulers, he said “you are the custodian of our rich cultural heritage, the people listen to you more than us because you are the closest to the people. We appreciate you and value you because you are our link to the past.”

While urging the people of the State to be peaceful in order to develop, the Vice President said Nasarawa State is home to all the solid minerals in the country, adding, “if we productively utilize our solid minerals, Nasarawa can be to the North what Lagos is to the South-West and can be the engine room in this region because of its proximity to the FCT; opportunities abound more in Nasarawa State,” he declared.