Niger new urban policy ready – SSG

The Niger state government has drafted a new Urban Policy “which will soon be sent to the House of Assembly for necessary legislative action and legal backing;” the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Matane, has said.

Matane disclosed this at a stakeholders’ dialogue forum in Minna aimed at deliberating on the draft state urban policy.

According to him, “the objective of the policy dialogue was to give the stakeholders the opportunity to validate the contents of the draft policy before it goes to the state House of Assembly.”

He said the administration had spent the two years working hard to develop the Urban Policy based on the National Urban Policy of 2012, adding that the forum was aimed at collecting data that forms the basis of the policy.

Matane said the new policy would facilitate “a profound paradigm shift that builds good understanding, mutual respect and sustainable partnership between state, local governments and residents of villages, towns and cities.”

“It would also enable towns and cities to rearrange their priorities in financial management and governance to enable the provision of infrastructure facilities and services on a self-sustaining basis to residents,” he said.

In his remarks, the coordinator of the Niger State Urban Support Programme (SUP), Prof. Mustapha Zubairu, said the state “is the first to formulate the state urban policy in Nigeria and in Africa.”

He disclosed further that the state would get a grant from the South Korea government for the project and a technical support from UN-Habitat.

“The policy formulation is at the final stage. The final version would be presented to the state Executive Council for consideration and approval and before going to the state House of Assembly to be enacted into law.”

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