Niger State Governor Umaru Bago has signed 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at revitalizing the Education, Health, Agriculture, Education, and other key sectors to strengthen the state’s economy and positively affect millions of lives.
Governor Bago stated this on Friday when he hosted a high-level sideline event unveiling Niger State’s 30 year vision plan – New Niger Vision 2055 at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The event had the theme – Bridging The Gap: Subnational Development, Human Capital And Agricultural Transformation.
“We just signed two MoUs. We are going to sign the third one very soon. But all in all, in this entire UNGA, we have signed like 10, mostly in health, education infrastructure, and others,” Governor Bago said.
The Niger State Governor told participants including global investors that the vision plan is anchored on four strategic pillars of improved livelihood, sustainable economy, good governance, urban renewal and rural transformation.
NewsQuest reports that the sideline event provided a veritable platform for the Governor and his team to highlight the State’s experience, build partnership, and discuss practical pathways to overcoming investment barriers, and human development gaps.
Speaking to journalists, Governor Bago said, “We are here at the United Nation General Assembly. We just finished our sideline meeting for Niger State, where we showcased our strength, opportunities for investors to leverage, mostly in agriculture, because of how we are positioned.
“Niger State is in the middle of Nigeria. It has the only inland port in the northern Nigeria. It has a lot of body of waters, two big rivers flanking the state on two sides. It has four hydro power dams as such.
“What we are looking for is to be able to crop and farm all year round. We are looking for investment in irrigation, in crop production, in aquaculture, and livestock precisely,” Governor Bago stressed.
He ephasized that Niger State is today known for its strength in agriculture and is being repositioned as Nigeria’s food basket.
“We have one of the best states mechanization agriculture. We have been able to partner with seed developers across the globe. We also are having an investment in irrigation.
“We have a lot of investment in ethanol, sugar for ethanol, and this is an example. In the next few years, Niger is going to have a GDP almost equal to Nigeria,” the Governor told guests to a rousing applause.
Governor Bago also explained that with the level of transparency being exhibited by his government, more investments were pouring into Niger State with many of them having to do with trust.
“Everybody is excited to come to Nigeria and to also come to Niger State,” Governor Bago added.
Our correspondent gathered that Governor Bago’s administration in the last two years has implemented significant reforms in the education sector focused on accessibility, inclusivity, infrastructural revival, teacher capacity-building, and modernizing curriculum to meet 21st-century standards.
In the Health sector, the government has carried out deliberate reforms through innovative policies, infrastructure investment, workforce development, and strategic partnerships.
Stakeholders have acknowledged that Governor Bago through a comprehensive and innovative approach in the agriculture sector is fast addressing economic growth, food security, and security challenges simultaneously, while focusing on large-scale mechanized farming, irrigation development, and advanced agricultural technologies to boost productivity and create jobs.
Among investors and global partners who participated at the Niger State UNGA high-level sideline event were, Salin 247 Iowa of USA, and Ethnomet, a digital healthcare services platform headquartered in Canada, and representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
