The Niger state government has moved to decongest Suleja city and make Minna, the state capital more livable with the introduction of Integrated Development Plan (IDP).
IDP, which was initiated by the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, is to make towns and cities socially inclusive and self-sustaining.
To this end, residents of Minna and Suleja have expressed optimism over the move.
They made this known at the end of a Two-Day Technical Interactive Session with stakeholders on IDP formulation with officials from the UN-Habitat and Niger State Urban Support Programme (SUP) in Suleja on Saturday.
The state government is working with UN-Habitat and other partners to prepare the state Urban Development Policy based on the National Urban Development Policy of 2012.
This was aimed at developing the human settlements sector in an integrated manner through the formulation of the SUP.
A representative of Suleja Emirate, Alhaji Mohammed Alhassan lauded the IDP formulation project and said his aspiration was to have a liveable and workable city for people to live with adequate services provided.
“Suleja has become a congested city because of its proximity to the Federal Capital and has witnessed consistent inflow of people not just to Suleja town but the emirate. Therefore, my hope is to see the emirate where things are working in a comprehensive manner.
Also, the Director, Social Development in Suleja Council Area, Alhaji Haruna Garba, said the IDP project would address challenges of housing, land, education, water, insecurity and youth restiveness facing the emirate.
“When the project is implemented, my aspiration is to have a new Suleja that is vibrant and all inclusive with job opportunities and capacity building,” he said.
Also, a resident of Tafa Local Government Area, Mr Obed Nana, said the project would help develop local government areas and said the involvement of stakeholders would bring about the actualisation of the project.
In his remarks, Coordinator, Niger State Urban Support Programme, Professor Mustapha Zubairu, commended the Emir of Suleja, Malam Awwal Ibrahim, for mobilising his subjects to participate actively in the project formulation process.
