The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has disclosed that he will lead an advocacy to attract international attention and support for the rehabilitation of the devastated North-East zone as a result of years of insurgency.
This is even as a Bill for an Act to Establish the North-East Development Commission sponsored by Dogara, passed the Second Reading in the House.
The Speaker also blamed the crisis in the North-East on what he called leadership failure, calling for concerted efforts from all to salvage the area and its people from the devastating effects of insurgency.
Dogara spoke on Tuesday in Abuja when he granted audience to a group of eminent indigenes of his native Bauchi State, the Baluchi Forum, led by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed.
Earlier a documentary on the destructive activities of the Boko Haram insurgents across the country particularly in the North-East geopolitical zone was shown to the Speaker’s guests by a team from the Victim Support Fund (VSF) led by its executive secretary, Dr. Sunday Ochoche.
After the presentation, Ochoche said: “Whatever has been done thus far, there is still so much to be done..as tragic as situation is, there is hope.”
Also, commenting on the video clip, Dogara said: “This is the situation in our zone. One thing that come to mind is the leadership factor except we are saying that we have failed. It’s a global problem that need a global attention to end it.”
He explained various scheduled international engagements where he intended to place the issues and show the documentary before an international audience for their further action.
He added that what was of concern was the sheer scale of devastation of infrastructure and displacement of persons in the region.
Lawmakers from the North-East present at the parley also identified areas for improvement of the video clip and offered other necessary suggestions including situation reports from their various domains and how to go about the advocacy in order attract support from the international scene.
For his part, leader of the Forum, the former SGF, said observations by the lawmakers from zone on the were apt and should be incorporated in the documentary to improve its standard in order attract the attention of the international community.
Other members of the Forum also shared their experiences on how to attract development to the zone through appropriate advocacy approaches.
