Niger State Government said it will continue to embrace policies that are geared towards creating better life for the people with emphasis on eliminating extreme poverty.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello gave the indication at the United Nations Global Week with Niger State as action partner to ACT for Sustainable Development Goals held in Government House, Minna.
The Governor explained that the state government will in the years ahead, establish the state as a truly investors friendly with focus on agricultural value chain, Education, Health, Energy, Entrepreneurship development and sustainable partnership to drive the goals in line with the UN SDGs.
“The state government will also continue to inculcate the SDGs goals towards utilizing our potentials as an agrarian state and the food basket of the nation” Gov Sani-Bello stated.
He disclosed that the state government has been enjoying collaboration with several agricultural donors and development agencies like FADAMA III AF Project, CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme and RAMP II Projects to maximize its potential in the agricultural value chains.
Governor Sani Bello described the theme of the programme, ” Building Niger State as the Food Basket of Nigeria “, as commendable and in line with the state government policies and programmes towards reducing poverty and creating viable investments for the state.
The Governor said ” So far, we have been working with relevant partners, through our MDAs and the LGAs towards achieving the solution 17 for a sustainable Niger state “.
The Secretary to the State Government, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane disclosed that the state has been striving to ensure that it was in alignment with the SDGs through its Meticulous planning and programming frameworks.
He said the state government was also creatively developing and establishing coordination among the MDAs because the SDGs goals can not be attained without proper coordination and data generation.
“Every goal has measurable indicators, and every MDAs has the responsibility to track specified indicators, hence the essence of creating the forum. Through this, awareness is also developed so that people can key into the SDGs platform”.
“How far have we been on track towards attainment of the SDGs is what we need to emphasize and proactively bring all the stakeholders together and see that we align with this agenda and also attempt to achieve it within the specified period”.SSG stated.
Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane stressed that the attainment of the SDGs required more determination and commitment by government to ensure that the achievements and goals were on track.
The SDGs Solution 17 Creative Director and Consultant, Mr. Sheriff Balogun disclosed that empowerment of the people was what all the goals seek to achieve added that, with the present tempo, Niger state is expected to be a major driver and SDGs global champion in the country.
