IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN writes that with NEDC’s N230 billion package, the commission appears to be rewiring the North-East region.
At 6:15pm in Garkida, Adamawa State, Aisha Buba used to close her vegetable shop. Not because she had sold out, but because darkness made it unsafe to stay open.
That changed six months ago. When NEDC solar streetlights were installed on her street, Aisha added two more hours to her day. She bought a small freezer. Now she sells cold drinks and keeps tomatoes fresh overnight. Her daily profit has gone from ₦4,000 to nearly ₦9,000.
“It’s not just light,” she said. “It’s time. It’s money. It’s my children’s school fees.”
Aisha’s story is being repeated across the North-East. And on Wednesday in Abuja, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) placed a big bet that thousands more stories like hers are coming.
The Commission’s Governing Board approved a historic ₦230 billion package of investments in power, transport, enterprise, healthcare and mobility. The goal: move the region from a decade of recovery into a decade of growth.
“We are moving from recovery, renewal and stabilisation to development, from recovery to prosperity,” said Mohammed Alkali, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEDC. “The North-East is no longer defined by its past, but by the promise of its future.”
The approvals, announced at a media briefing, are anchored on the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Officials described them as the Commission’s most ambitious development package to date.
For years, insurgency displaced millions. Schools, clinics, roads and markets were destroyed. Farming communities abandoned land. Supply chains collapsed. When the NEDC was established, its first job was stabilisation. That meant rebuilding what was lost.
According to the Commission, that work is largely done. “Over 300 kilometres of roads and more than 50 bridges have been delivered across the six states. More than 100,000 solar streetlights have been installed under the Light Up the North-East project. And 49 tertiary institution projects, 18 Mega Schools and over 100 WASH facilities have been completed. Healthcare facilities have begun receiving MRI and CT scan machines,” Alkali told journalists in Abuja recently.
He added: “In Adamawa, the 32km Dabna Road and the Numan, Bole, Madagali and Michika Bridges have reconnected farming communities. In Bauchi, the Kirfi–Gombe Abba Road and Tashan Turmi Bridge have cut travel time to markets. In Borno, the Ngom–Koshebe–Zabarmari corridor and the Fogori Bridge have restored routes destroyed by conflict. In Yobe, the 54km Mutai–Ngalda Road has improved access to Potiskum.”
The Commission also recently attained five ISO certifications covering quality, environment, health and safety, anti-bribery and sustainable communities. Development experts say for a regional development agency in the country, that is unprecedented.
“We have spent the past years rebuilding confidence,” Alkali said. “Having laid this foundation, the Governing Board has approved a new generation of interventions that will serve as catalysts for change, growth and development.”
He said the NESDMP, the Commission’s roadmap, is built on 11 pillars: peaceful society, leadership in agriculture, healthy citizens, purposeful infrastructure, productive entrepreneurs, educated populace, protected environment, industrialisation, flourishing trade, memorable tourism, and a connected region.
According to the CEO, the plan has moved in phases. Phase 1 was Stabilisation: restoring basic services. Phase 2 was Renewal: expanding education, health and energy. Phase 3, which begins now, is called Expansion and Sustainable Growth. The focus shifts from rebuilding to competitiveness.
“If you ask any trader, welder or clinic owner in the North-East what they need most, the answer is almost always the same: light,” Alkali added.
Nigeria’s national electrification rate is about 58%. In the North-East, it is 39%. That means 61% of people live without reliable power. The result is expensive diesel, spoiled goods, and businesses that close early.
To close that gap, the NEDC Board has approved ₦100 billion for 50MW of renewable energy through solar mini-grids and distributed systems.
In the Commission’s estimation, this is not just more streetlights. The investment will target homes, schools, hospitals, markets, agricultural clusters and industrial parks, and will be implemented with the Rural Electrification Agency and other partners.
The bigger picture is even larger. Assessments carried out by the Commission show that achieving universal electrification in the North-East by 2030 will require about $4.29 billion to reach 4.26 million households and over 218,000 communities. The plan mixes solar home systems, grid connections and mini-grids.
“This 50MW investment is a strategic catalyst. It will lower the cost of doing business, improve productivity, accelerate agro-processing, support digital innovation, strengthen healthcare delivery, and create green jobs,” Alkali said.
For people like Aisha in Garkida, it means the possibility of refrigeration, milling machines, and welding shops staying open after sunset. For hospitals, it means vaccines that don’t spoil. For schools, it means computers that actually work.
The Board’s most eye-catching approval was the launch of the NEDC Electric Vehicle Programme. Phase one is expected to deploy 300 electric taxis, 12-seater electric minibuses, and larger electric buses. The long-term plan is to scale to over 10,000 EVs, with charging infrastructure and maintenance hubs across the region. The Commission said the first set of vehicles are already in Nigeria.
Officials frame it as more than transport. It is an industrial strategy. The Commission explained that the EV programme will be powered in part by the new solar mini-grids, creating a loop: renewable energy charging clean vehicles. The rollout is expected to create new jobs for engineers, electricians, mechanics and ICT professionals. Charging stations, battery services and fleet management will also open space for local entrepreneurs.
“It is an investment in people, productivity and prosperity. It positions the North-East as a national leader in sustainable mobility,” the CEO said.
Project monitors say if delivered, it would be one of the largest electric mass transit initiatives on the African continent.
Power without movement is not enough. That is why the Board also approved another ₦100 billion for roads and bridges. The new funding will build on existing projects and focus on linking agricultural hubs to commercial centres and industrial clusters. The idea is simple: reduce transport costs, cut post-harvest losses, and make it easier to get goods to market.
But the Commission is thinking bigger than roads. It also advanced plans for two transformative projects: The North-East Railway, designed to move freight and passengers, reduce logistics costs, and link the region to national and cross-border trade routes; and a North-East Regional Airline to improve business travel, tourism, emergency response and cargo movement.
“In Alkali’s thinking, together, road, rail and air are meant to do one thing: connect producers to markets, and the North-East to Nigeria and its neighbours,” an official said.
The Commission noted that in Taraba, the rehabilitation of the Jalingo–Wukari Highway and new bridges at Mayo Ndaga and Namnai have already shown what connectivity can do for farmers. In Gombe, the Gombe Abba–Kirfi Road has opened new trade corridors. The new approvals aim to replicate that across the region.
Apparently recognising that infrastructure creates the conditions and enterprise creates the jobs, the Board has also approved a ₦30 billion NEDC–Bank of Industry MSME Development Fund. The fund will provide financing, business development services and training, with priority for youth- and women-owned businesses.
For a region with a young population and a strong trading culture, access to capital has been a major barrier. The fund is designed to fill that gap and stimulate local industries. It complements ongoing skills programmes in photovoltaics, metering, linesmen work, waste-to-wealth and entrepreneurship that have already trained thousands of young people.
Under the “Healthy Citizenry” pillar, Alkali told journalists that the Commission is making its biggest push yet into healthcare. The flagship project is the procurement of eight 1.5 Tesla Helium-Free MRI machines for the six states, alongside CT scanners, digital X-rays, mammography and dialysis equipment.
To ensure they work, the NEDC has built dedicated facilities, provided alternative power, signed five-year maintenance contracts, and started training radiologists and biomedical engineers. The Commission is also upgrading the Borno Eye Hospital and establishing a Fertility Centre at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. Hundreds of Primary Healthcare Centres have been renovated.
On the financing side, the Community Targeted Social Health Insurance Programme (CTSHIP) has enrolled about 10,000 vulnerable beneficiaries, including internally displaced persons. The objective is to reduce referrals outside the region, cut medical tourism, and build a health system that can serve the next generation.
NEDC officials said they cannot deliver this alone. The new phase depends on partnerships with UNIDO for industrialisation, UNDP for resilience and enterprise, and REA for energy.
The five ISO certifications are also meant to signal to investors that public money will be managed transparently and efficiently. “These certifications demonstrate that the Commission operates in accordance with globally recognised best practices,” Alkali said. “They strengthen investor confidence.”
Members of the public may ask: why do these investments matter together? NEDC officials said looked at separately, these are big projects. Looked at together, they form one strategy.
Reliable power allows agro-processors to run machines. Roads and rail move the processed goods to market. The MSME fund helps young people start the businesses that use that power and those roads. Healthcare and education build the workforce.
For the North-East, the potential is enormous. The region has fertile land, a strategic border location, and millions of young people. What it has lacked is energy, connectivity and capital. If this package delivers, the impact could be measured in factories, jobs, higher incomes, and stronger food security.
The hard part will be implementation. In Maiduguri, people have heard big announcements before. The difference now, officials argue, will be in delivery and monitoring.
The maintenance agreements for medical equipment, the partnership frameworks, and the ISO systems are all designed to ensure accountability. The Commission said beneficiary selection for the MSME fund and other programmes will be transparent.
But the real test will be on the ground. Will the solar mini-grids reach rural clusters? Will the EV charging stations be maintained? Will the roads be completed on time?
Alkali acknowledged the challenge. “These interventions are not merely investments in infrastructure. They are catalysts for change, growth and development, laying the foundation for a peaceful, connected, energy-secure and prosperous North-East.”
Back in Aisha Buba’s shop, the solar light comes on at dusk. Customers now stop by after evening prayers. She is saving to buy a second freezer.
Her story is small. But multiply it by thousands, across farms in Michika, markets in Damaturu, and workshops in Gombe, and you begin to see the ambition behind the ₦230 billion.
The North-East has spent 10 years rebuilding. Now, the plan is to build forward. “The North-East is ready,” Alkali said as he closed the briefing.
Whether that becomes the story of the next five years will depend on execution. But for the first time in a long time, the conversation in the North-East is not about what was lost. It is about what can be built.