Eight Northern Governors From Nigerian Poorest States, One Other Counterpart Fly To U.S. For Three-Day Conference On Insecurity

 

 

 

Nine Northern governors, eight of whom are from Nigeria’s top 20 poorest states, are currently in the United States of America for a three-day conference on tackling insecurity in Nigeria.

The governors include Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State; Governor Dikko Umar Radda of Katsina State; Governor Dauda Lawal Dare of Zamfara State; Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State.

Others are Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto of Sokoto State; Governor Mohammed Nasir Idris of Kebbi State; Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State and Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State.

Checks by SaharaReporters show that the eight governors from the top 20 poorest states in Nigeria, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2022 data (most recent official data), include the governors from Sokoto State, which was ranked poorest with 91 percent poverty index by the NBS and Jigawa State which came third on NBS list of poorest states.

Others are governors from Kebbi State (fourth poorest state); Plateau State (seventh poorest state); Zamfara (ninth poorest state); Katsina (13th poorest state); Kaduna (16th poorest state) and Niger (20th poorest state) in Nigeria.

According to the NBS list of the poorest states in Nigeria, Kano State, whose governor is the ninth governor at the US conference, is the 21st poorest state in the country.

The conference is said to be designed to address insecurity in Northern Nigeria and proffer better options to mitigate the challenge.

The AIT reports that the conference which involves intensive executive engagement will enable the governors of some of the most terrorised states in Northern Nigeria to have a deep understanding of the dynamics of security threat, its socio-economic dimensions, and near-term opportunities to drive stability in the region.

 

 

The conference being organised by the U.S Institute of Peace would also broaden their knowledge on strengthening conflict prevention in the region, through non-violent strategies for engaging armed groups as an alternative for conflict resolution.

The strategic engagement being anchored under the tutelage of the Vice President of the Africa Centre for U.S Institute of Peace, Dr. Joseph Sany, will also focus on policy coordination and management of peace and stability in Nigeria.

The programme which is billed to end on April 25 is part of the ongoing efforts of the Northern governors, especially those from the North-West geo-political zone of the region to set a regional development agenda for their people.