Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
A two-term member of the National Assembly currently serving on the board of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Hon. Sam Onuigbo, has expressed optimism that the zonal development commissions established by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will provide a new platform for delivering critical infrastructure, restoring livelihoods and bringing the dividends of democracy closer to Nigerians across the country.
The erstwhile federal lawmaker, who spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja yesterday, said the commissions represented a deliberate attempt to address developmental challenges peculiar to the various geopolitical zones while complementing the efforts of state and local governments.
He specifically cited the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) as evidence that regional development agencies could make a significant difference when properly funded, supervised and focused on their statutory responsibilities.
According to him, the devastation inflicted on the North-east by Boko Haram insurgency had created an enormous reconstruction challenge that could not have been adequately handled through the conventional government structure alone.
Onuigbo, who is the President, GLOBE Legislators International (GLI), said the NEDC had consequently become an important instrument for rebuilding communities, restoring basic infrastructure and returning displaced Nigerians to normal life.
“I want to say that, yes, the development commissions established under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration are well-intentioned, and you begin to see the impact as we go forward,” he said.
He recalled that the NEDC was established after the law setting up the commission was passed in 2017, describing its interventions across the six states of the North-east as a positive demonstration of what regional development commissions could achieve.
Onuigbo said the commission had undertaken reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the insurgency, including roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and police stations, while also supporting the resettlement of internally displaced persons.
“If you follow what is going on in the North-east, first you have to talk about the level of devastation caused by Boko Haram and other insurgent groups, destruction of roads and bridges and houses, police stations, hospitals, anything that had to do with the state.
“But the North-east Development Commission has done a fantastic job of reconstructing all these buildings, bringing back the people in the IDP camps, resettling them, constructing roads and bridges, building schools, working on issues of health, hospitals and all that,” he stated.
The climate change advocate also disclosed that the commission had undertaken scholarship programmes and other interventions aimed at rebuilding human capital in the region.
He further revealed that the NEDC had received approval from the federal government to deploy electric vehicles in the region, describing the initiative as part of the broader efforts to modernise infrastructure and improve the quality of life of residents.
“So, if you put together what they’ve been able to do, scholarships, the construction of police stations, hospitals and all that in the six North-east states, you then agree that this is a positive development,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the other zonal commissions recently established by the Tinubu administration could replicate the NEDC model, provided their resources were properly deployed and their operations subjected to effective oversight.
“I have no doubt that these other development commissions that have come up, I’m talking about the South-east Development Commission, and others, are going to go a long way in ensuring that the money that they receive is properly deployed, judiciously applied for the good of the people,” he said.
The former lawmaker argued that the essence of establishing development commissions was to ensure that Nigerians, particularly those living in rural and underserved communities, could directly experience the impact of government policies.
He said the commissions could bridge developmental gaps by concentrating resources and interventions on areas that had suffered decades of neglect or had been devastated by conflict.
He also linked the regional development commissions to President Tinubu’s broader development agenda, arguing that their interventions could complement federal projects and strengthen economic activities across the country.
He said the South-east Development Commission, in particular, represented an important opportunity to address longstanding infrastructural and developmental challenges in the region.
The commission was established after President Tinubu assented to the South-east Development Commission Establishment Bill in 2024.
The former lawmaker recalled that he had participated in efforts to establish the commission during his years in the National Assembly, stressing that its eventual creation provided an institutional framework for tackling the region’s developmental challenges.
He argued that the establishment of zonal commissions should not be viewed as a duplication of the responsibilities of state governments, but rather as a mechanism for coordinating large-scale regional projects that transcend individual state boundaries.
He said the commissions could also promote regional integration, stimulate investment, create employment opportunities and improve access to essential services.
The former lawmaker, however, emphasised that the success of the commissions would ultimately depend on accountability, prudent financial management and their ability to translate budgetary allocations into tangible projects.
His position comes amid growing national attention on the performance and financial management of the newly established development commissions, with lawmakers already subjecting some of them to scrutiny over expenditure and project implementation.
He maintained that the ultimate test should be whether ordinary Nigerians could see and feel the difference through improved roads, schools, hospitals, security infrastructure, economic opportunities and restored livelihoods.
According to him, if properly managed, the commissions could become one of the most effective mechanisms for delivering the dividends of democracy to Nigerians, particularly communities that have historically remained outside the immediate reach of major federal development projects.