The Northeast Governors Forum has ruled that the security challenges bedevilling the region can be resolved only through a multidimensional approach.

The Governor of Borno State, Babangana Zulum, while speaking at the 12th rotational meeting of the Forum in Taraba on Saturday, identified the key solutions as education, healthcare, beefed-up security and infrastructural development, among others.

While commending President Bola Tinubu’s effort at ending insurgency in the region, the governors also insisted that the root causes, such as youth restiveness, unemployment, vocational and technical education, poor road networks and inadequate poverty reduction programmes must be tackled.

They are also seeking the collaboration of the Federal Government in providing an enabling environment to both local and foreign investors and to promote the establishment of small and medium-scale enterprises.

“We must reiterate our call for non-kinetic solutions to the challenges. This involves addressing the root cause of the problem by tackling youth unemployment through enhanced technical and vocational education, improving our road networks, revitalising agriculture, improving poverty alleviation programmes, security, and healthcare, among others.

“We must take practical steps that will ensure the revitalisation of our region.

“We must take practical steps that will attract both local and foreign investments, and promote the establishment of large and small-scale enterprises, further to the recent release of the 2025 flat outlook by the national hydrological services agency and the seasonal climate predictions from the Nigerian meteorological agency.

“In these authoritative forecasts, it is recommended that your excellencies immediately prioritise the development of robust mitigation strategies.”

While speaking earlier, the Governor of Taraba State, Dr Agbu Kefas, asked governors of the northeast region to add their voices in calling the NorthEast Development Commission to expedite action in reconstructing the Namai bridge, which collapsed since August last year and claimed lives.

The governors said the Northeast continues to face daunting humanitarian and infrastructural setbacks, reaffirming the Forum’s unwavering commitment to driving development of the region. (Channels TV)