It was an epoch making event as Gombe State Government under the dynamic leadership of Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya unveiled 10- Year Development Plan which had not happened since the creation of the state in 1996.
Speaking at the official unveiling of the Development Plan from 2021-2030 at the Government House Gombe on tuesday said historic occasion of the unveiling of the 10-year Development Plan for Gombe State (2021 – 2030), saying that the plan, christened the “Development Agenda for Gombe State (DEVAGOM)”marked a significant milestone in the quest for the advancement of the State.
The turn out of invited guests from all over the country and outside showed the political acemen and passionate desire to take the state to another enviable heights.
The Governor sincerely expressed appreciation to all invited guests despite their very tight schedules and the challenges associated with long distance travels in these hard times, could honoured the invitation.
According to him “DEVAGOM” is an attempt to harness the immense potentials by taking advantage of emerging opportunities and tackling the challenges and threats in order to realize the developmental objectives.
He added that another reason was that it was a road map for the transformation of Gombe State that is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set by the United Nations.
Noting that Benjamin Franklin said: ‘if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” hence the pragmatic and strategically planning of the development of the state, adding that the
wheels of the event were set in motion as far back as April 2019 when as Governor-Elect, he commissioned a Needs Assessment team to tour round the nooks and crannies of Gombe State covering over 420 communities across all the 114 wards in order to ascertain the developmental needs and priorities of the people.
This development was borne out of avowed commitment to plan and implement people-oriented policies and programs that shall open window of development in all facet of economy sector.
He noted that the assessment was the beginning of a bottom-up stakeholder consultation process from the unit, ward, local government to State level hence giving them the opportunity to define Gombe State’s vision through the eyes of its people.
The Governor explained that the accumulative effect is that DEVAGOM is an agenda of the people, by the people and for the people
order to create the better future they all desire for the people.
He noted that his administration in making relentless efforts to stimulate and sustain economic growth and human development.
“However, for us to ensure that the choices we make, the steps we take, and the outcomes we envisage are technically desirable and consistent with our goals,”, stressing that , “it is necessary to have a robust plan for building durable institutions, mobilising resources and capabilities, as well as managing risks and shocks from unforeseen domestic and globa events”.
“In line with international best practices, development planning in the 21st century requires collaboration between various stakeholders at subnational, national and international levels”
Furthermore, “DEVAGOM is a product of synergy and collaboration with local and international development partners most of whom are here today to celebrate this historic achievement with us”.
In order to ensure the success of DEVAGOM, the indefigable Governor said he has put in place the necessary structures and institutional reforms that would drive its effective implementation, adding that since coming to office about 20 months ago, his administration has focused on improving internal revenue generation, ease of doing business, infrastructural development and civil service reforms amongst other initiatives.
These efforts would soon be complemented by a legislative bill to further strengthen DEVAGOMs institutional legitimacy and guarantee its long-term success and sustainability.
DEVAGOM projects in Gombe are a terminus that encapsulates “Growth, Development, Peace, and shared Prosperity for All”.
He lamented on the comparative advantage in agriculture, commerce and trade, 8n the state, they have tremendous human and natural resources as well as strategic position at the centre of the Northeast subregion.
He observed that the conviction of their vision is both realistic and achievable, saying so far, his administration has placed high priority on human capital development as the catalyst of growth with special focus on education, health and youth development.
” Our agricultural transformation drive is aimed at harnessing our vast irrigation potentials along our major dams; rural infrastructure projects that connect and open up our rural communities; social and environmental policies that create jobs, protect our environment and promote peaceful coexistence amongst our people”.
“To put this into better perspectives, we have mopped up over 300,000 out-of-school children through the World Bank-supported Better Education and Service Delivery for All (BESDA) project”.
He said he equally embarked on network 11-100 which aimed to provide 100km of roads in each of our 11 LGAs.
He further put that they also embarked on the revitalization of the health system by providing a functional health centre in each of the 114 wards of the state with the necessary basic equipment and manpower to provide 24-hour service to the people.
He added also that they also upgraded and equipped the state specialist hospital and established the hospitals management board and the state contributory healthcare scheme to provide universal access to quality healthcare to the people at an affordable cost.
Adding that his administration which is mindful of the developmental also built the skills of the idle youth and ramping up support to the farmers.
” With the ongoing work on Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve and the planned take-off of Dadin Kowa industrial park, Gombe State is on course to cement its status as the centre of agriculture, commerce and industry in the Northeast sub-region”.There’s no doubt that implementing all these would require the mobilization of domestic and external resources and their effective utilization hence accomplishing them, they have embedded in the plan policies and strategies to enhance efficiency, build transparency and entrench accountability at all levels of government.
” It is our vision to guarantee better value for money in order to apply our scare resources so as to foster rapid development of our dear State”.
The Governor commended both the Steering and Technical Committees for doing a wonderful job by ensuring a fully participatory and all-inclusive consultative process, while
acknowledging the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) and the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) for supporting the preparation of this Plan.
He also appreciated the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Fund for Population Activity (UNFPA) for their participation in the Steering and Technical Committees and other supports in the process of preparing this plan.
The Consultants, led by Prof. Emmanuel Onwioduokit that worked tirelessly beyond their call of duties are most sincerely appreciated.
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