The House of Representatives on Wednesday began consideration of a bill seeking to establish the National Commission for Rural Infrastructure and Development.
The sponsor of the bill argued that Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable economic growth while millions of rural residents lack access to basic infrastructure and economic opportunities.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill during plenary, the sponsor, Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger), described rural development as “a strategic economic priority” rather than a social intervention.
Abdullahi said that despite decades of public investment and development planning, Nigeria’s largest infrastructure deficit remains in rural communities, where most of the population lives and where much of the country’s agricultural production and natural resources are located.
According to Abdullahi, the proposed commission would provide a national framework for financing, coordinating, monitoring and supporting rural infrastructure and development programmes across the federation.
“No nation can attain sustainable economic growth while
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