Worried by the debt profile in the North West states amounting to N1.2 trillion, stakeholders supported by the Aid Foundation have begun a debt campaign in order to recover money for development in the seven states that make up the zone.
Addressing a news conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Monday, Executive Director, Aid Foundation, Emmanuel Bonet, listed the seven states as Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, and Jigawa states.
According to him, representatives of government, civil society, the media, and professional bodies from each of the seven states of the Northwest sometimes converged in Kaduna to validate their respective debt profiles.
He said in that meeting that the total debt profile in the zone stands at N1.2 trillion, saying the figure is indeed concerning to stakeholders when compared with the people’s expectations in terms of development.
“Hence, the need for the AID Foundation in partnership with CISLAC and support from Christian Aid is to facilitate an avenue that will keep the discussion on the front burner so that more citizens are informed of who, when, and for what debt is collected, as well as to give them the opportunity to air their views on the subject matter.
To this end, “we are launching a competition that is aimed at eliciting the views of residents of Kebbi Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, and Kaduna states on the diverse ways in which they think that their state governments can source funds that will be used for development.
The executive director said, “A token sum of seven hundred thousand naira (N700,000) to be contested for by residents of Northwest Nigeria has been earmarked.
“Each contestant will either record a video or audio of not more than 2 minutes or write an essay of not more than 200 words outlining their suggestions of what they think their various state governments should do to generate additional sources of revenue that can be used for the development of their states.
“The competition is open to all ages 18 and older, and they should be residents of the state they are providing solutions for.
Fourteen judges have been selected from tertiary and professional institutions across the zone, and criteria such as adherence to the rules of time, words, and hashtags, as well as the quality of input or suggestions, etc., will be used in selecting winners.
“All entries should be sent to @aidfoundation on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tagging @CAID_Nigeria and @cislacnigeira with the hashtag #NWDebtSolutions
“We believe that for us to move progressively as a nation, our governments should explore other sources of funding while improving in the areas of inclusion, transparency, accountability, and public finance management.
“We therefore call on everyone to join the discussions that have now moved online as well as participate in the radio programmes currently ongoing in the zone.
