NEDC Donates 2 Billion Naira Grant to Monday Market Traders.
By Dauda Iliya
The North East Development Commission NEDC has donated the sum of two billion to traders of Maiduguri Monday Market to restart their capital.
The market which was engulfed by fire in February this year, was reconstructed by Borno state government, have been reopened for business activities.
Managing Director of the Commission Alhaji Mohammed Akali disclosed the donation when the newly reconstituted board of NEDC paid a courtesy visit to Borno state Governor, Babagana Zulum at the Government House, Maiduguri.
“the Board resolved that at least for now, we can provide what we called the restart capital, because when the market was burnt down we know the situation. So the Board has decided to give a grant of two billion naira to support the traders in taking off their business” Alkali announced.
Chairman of the Board, Major General Paul Tarfa rtd, expressed determination to carry out the mandate of which the Commission was established.
He said the Board has so far visited Gombe, Bauchi and Yobe states, promising to scale up development work of the region.
Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum acknowledged the support North East Development Commission is providing to people of the sub-region especially the displaced.
He called on NEDC to key into the agenda of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the state government in order to address the root causes of insurgency.
“We want chunk of the funds from North East Development Commission to be invested mainly on road construction, education, utilisation of renewable energy, investment in commercial agriculture, job creation and security above all” Zulum said.
Governor Zulum assured that the support provided will not be diverted, explaining that it will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of the traders.
High point of the visit was the presentation of the two billion naira cheque by Chairman of the Commission Major General Paul Tarfa to Professor Babagana Zulum.
Similarly, the Board of NEDC have earlier visited Bama and Konduga local government areas where they inspected projects executed by the Commission.
