By Nimake Earland Bauchi
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) on Thursday laid the foundation for the construction of 500 houses across Bauchi State in collaboration with the state government just as it flagged off the distribution of food and non-food items to IDPs in Bauchi State.

NEDC Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mohammed G Alkali, who stated this in Dungal village during the flagging off on Thursday explained that prior to the commencement of Boko Haram insurgency, the stock of houses in the North-Eastern states was about four million, saying that out of these out, over 500,000 structures (houses and commercial premises) were destroyed or irreparably damaged.

According to Alkali, “Investigations by experts revealed that the stock of houses in the North-Eastern states before the insurgency was about four million, out of which over 500,000 structures (houses and commercial premises) were destroyed or irreparably damaged, which before the insurgency, there was a housing deficit in all the states of the region.

“Therefore, the insurgency only further aggravated the situation, while in all of this, Borno State being the epicentre of the crisis is worst affected with the largest number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).”

He informed that President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2019 given special approval for the construction of 10,000 houses and the establishment of technical and vocational skills acquisition centres for internally displaced persons in the state.

“In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a special Presidential Intervention in Borno State (SPIB) in order to reduce the desperate situation that displaced communities in the state had found themselves through the construction of 10,000 houses and the establishment of technical and vocational skills acquisition centres for the IDPs, amongst others.

“Approved was the execution of the SPIB, which was resolved that the NEDC undertakes the construction of the first 1,000 houses and fully fund the equipping of the technical and vocational/skills centres around the state.

“The first 1,000 houses were executed at Ngowom Village, Mafa Local Government of Borno State and handed over to the governor of Borno State, Professor Baba Gana Umara Zullum,” he said

The MD/CEO explained that the NEDC was established to address developmental challenges in the North-East zone as well as restore the means of livelihood of the people following the over 12 years of insurgency.

According to him, the insurgency had led to the massive influx of people into the urban areas with most of them taking shelter in any available public spaces, homes, schools, huts, abandoned and uncompleted buildings, while many trooped to the neighbouring North Eastern States just as hundreds settled in IDPs camps across the states.

He said that when the Commission was established, part of its mandate included rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed homes and commercial premises of the people of the North-East.

Alkali revealed that as part of its intervention, NEDC trained 2,400 youths in two batches across the six states in Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The Commission, according to him, also donated well equipped infectious diseases laboratories for the testing of Covid-19 and other diseases in Yobe, Bauchi and Taraba state, adding that those of Adamawa and Gombe states would soon be done.

Also speaking at the event, Bauchi State governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, who laid the foundation of the housing units being funded by NEDC, said the 500 units would complement the ongoing construction of 2,500 housing units being constructed by the state government across the state in collaboration with the Federal Government.

Governor Mohammed declared that houses are vital to people’s existence, adding that his administration was trying to make houses affordable for the people of the state.

“The importance of houses for the people cannot be overemphasized and that is why we are doing everything possible to make sure that our people get affordable but decent accommodation. We want to make sure we ameliorate the housing deficit.

NEDC trains 204 youths on ICT, agriculture in Bauchi

“Civil servants and other public servants will be given priority in the allocation of the houses because that is the only way to get the best out of them,” the governor said.

He assured that all housing estates would be provided with social amenities like schools, police stations, markets, among others, with a view to making living there comfortable for residents.

Alkali informed that the Commission handed over 10,000 25kg bags of rice; 12,000 gallons of vegetable oil; 10,000 bags of sugar; 2,000, cartons of spaghetti; 3,000 cartons of macaroni.

He added that 2,000 pieces of blankets; 2,000 mats; 2,000 mosquito nets and 10,000 mosquito hand bands were donated by the commission for distribution to beneficiaries.