NIGERIA OKAYS $6.7b PLAN FOR NORTHEAST RECONSTRUCTION.

The Federal Government says it has developed a N6.7 billion plan for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of northeast devastated by Boko Haram.

Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nation (UN), Prof. Tijjani Bande, said this at the event tagged “Strengthening the humanitarian and development partnership in the Lake Chad Region” at the UN headquarters in New York.

The envoy said the plan, known as “Buhari Plan”, aims to advance the humanitarian and development nexus in the country.

Bande said Nigeria was spearheading the event based on the need to promote across board collaboration and cooperation among countries of the Lake Chad region, the donors and a whole range of humanitarian and development partners.

Bande said: “At our national level, the $6.7 billion Buhari Plan of Action for the comprehensive Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the North Eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad represents an ambitious humanitarian cum development initiative on the part of a national government.

“It is to demonstrate its total and unshakable commitment to the socio-economic development of the entire area.

“It is unmistakably true that beyond the challenges lie numerous prospects for harnessing the capacity of the people and natural endowment of the area to facilitate integrated regional socio-economic development.

“Therefore, the occasion of this side event and its subsequent follow up actions would present opportunity for enhancing the objectives of several initiatives on the Lake Chad, such as the All Lake Chad Governors Forum which held its inaugural meeting in Maiduguri, in May.

“Also, the Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad has been slated for the first week of September and would build substantially on the outcomes of the February 2017 Oslo Donors Conference on the Lake Chad.

“I would like to take this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to redouble efforts and commitment towards making the Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad a watershed.

“This is in our collective resolve to further mobilise resources and demonstrate implicit commitment to plans that will ensure moving quickly beyond the immediate humanitarian need to concrete sustainable developmental projects capable of substantially elevating the lives of the majority of people in the region.”