Niger State government has began preparations for the state urban policy with $2.6 million grant from South Korean government for urban renewal.
The policy will be funded through counterpart fund and will be prepared through a bottom-up and stakeholder driven process that will give the government and the people objective basis, among other things to build consensus.
Consequently the Secretary to the state Government (SSG) Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Matane told a news conference yesterday in Minna, that the state will commence town hall meeting with stakeholders in four cities of Minna, Suleja, Bida and Kontagora for consensus building.
He said that government sought to build consensus on the causes and effects of the current development challenges of towns and cities in the state as well as build consensus on present and future sustainable development path for the state.
The SSG said it will enable the state build socially inclusive society, rearranging the financing, management, and governance of the cities and towns to operate on self sustaining basis, instill the willingness to pay equitable share of the cost of service provision, and developing in the people proprietary pride in the state.
Alhaji Matane noted that the road to the commencement of the policy started in 2017 when the governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello attended the second international conference on National Urban Policy held in France at the invitation of the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT).
He disclosed that, based on the governor’s presentation and conviction on the need for paradigm shift from dependence on federal allocation to alternative sources of developing the cities and towns, gave birth to the collaboration for the Niger State Urban Policy.
Matane stated that, “You may be interested to know that His Excellency was able to attract the grant from the South Korean Government for the preparation of the policy.
“Similarly , World Bank, Organisation for Economic Development and Collaboration (OEDC), and cities alliance as well as international development institutions are participating in the normative planning and for the opportunity of financing related development projects from the policy and UN HABITAT is providing the government technical assistant,” he added.
The coordinator of the programme, Prof Mustapha Zubairu stated that the policy will integrate cities like Minna and Suleja adding that a Mega city is being planned for Suleja even as he said that the aim is to send the policy to the state House of Assembly to become a law for sustainability.
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