By Abubakar Haruna Muhammad (9News Nigeria Northeast)
The Minister of State for Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, has inspected three key ongoing projects of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Borno State capital, Maiduguri, as part of efforts to fast-track infrastructure delivery across the North-East region.
The projects inspected are a 250-bed Students’ Hostel at Mohammed Lawan College of Agriculture, Moro-Moro bridge and a 9-span, 180-metre Galtimari–Fori Bridge.
The hostel is designed to improve student accommodation and learning conditions at the college. NEDC says the facility will support higher student enrolment and retention, and help build a skilled agricultural workforce needed to drive food production, agribusiness and rural economic transformation.
Located along a historic trade corridor linking Nigeria with Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the wider Central African region, the Moro-Moro bridge is being positioned as more than a road project.
Officials say it will reconnect communities, reduce transportation costs, improve market access, and boost trade in agricultural produce, livestock and merchandise.
The project is expected to benefit farmers, traders, transport operators, artisans and SMEs, while strengthening cross-border economic activity and the economic resilience of communities along the corridor.
Also, the 180-metre Galtimari–Fori Bridge bridge will improve connectivity within Borno and ease the movement of people, agricultural produce and commercial goods.
Better transport infrastructure is projected to lower logistics costs, expand market access, improve access to social services, and create an enabling environment for enterprise and investment.
The Minister was accompanied on the inspection by NEDC Managing Director/CEO Mohammed G. Alkali, the Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs, Musa Umar Yashi and the Executive Director, Administration and Finance, Dr Abubakar Garba Iliya.
Also present are the commission’s secretary, Barr. Benjamin Wesley and other senior management staff.
Speaking during the visit, the minister said the projects go beyond physical structures and represent investments in human capital, education, mobility, commerce, agriculture, regional integration and inclusive economic development.
He added that the projects will generate jobs during construction and, upon completion, connect communities to markets, services and new opportunities.
The inspection, he noted, is part of Federal Government’s commitment to effective project monitoring and timely delivery to ensure that development investments translate into tangible benefits for the people of Borno and the wider North-East.
