By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
An official of African Development Bank (AfDB) Mr. John Sifuma has restated the commitment of the regional institution towards improving quality of life of people of the North East and Nigeria at large.
Mr. Sifuma stated this on Monday in Bauchi at the opening ceremony of a Five Days Midterm Review Meeting (MTR) of the Federal Government/African Development Bank funded intervention tagged “ Nigeria Inclusive Basic Service Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Integrated Programme (IBSDLEIP), held at the Yankari Resort and Safari.
The AfDB representative said that the objective of the review meeting was to take stock on how far the programme is fairing in relation to the overall goals of the intervention.
“We want to take stock and see where there are gaps and for us to come up with measures on how to address them. We are very passionate about the programme, which we feel is impacting on the lives of the common man in the North East and Nigeria at large”, said Mr. Sifuma.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the North East Coordinator of IBSDLEIP Mohammed Danjuma said that the meeting is the third, since the inception of programme that involves the five implementing North Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba.
He said that due to the challenges of insecurity and the Covid 19 pandemic that slowed implementation of the programme, the intervention has gotten an extension of another two years with a new termination year to be 2023.
He charged all implementation states to redouble efforts in meeting the overall objective of the intervention that seeks to improve the lives of the people, especially the most vulnerable groups in the rural areas.
“The IBSDLEIP intervention is a multi sectoral program that centers on Health, Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. The intervention also focuses in the areas of human empowerment.
“All the components of the intervention tilts towards improving lives and economic status of beneficiaries of the programme”, Danjuma said.
In his welcome remark, the governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed said, his administration is fully committed to implementation of IBSDLEIP intervention which, according to him, “will contribute towards the attainment of our strategic development plan and subsequently translate into job creation and prosperity, thereby engendering peace, stability and sustainable economic growth”.
The Governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Ibrahim Mohammed Kashim, thanked the Federal Government and African Development Bank for conceiving and supporting the implementation of the intervention out of their interest and concern for ending the current sorry plight of the people of the North East.
The Governor also commended the AfDB Country office team and other participants at the MTR for their choice of Bauchi State in hosting the meeting.