By Abdulkareem Haruna

The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has provided public address systems to all local government information units across the 112 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in northeast Nigeria. 

The initiative aims to enhance the delivery of public service information at the grassroots level within the region.

NEDC’s Managing Director, Goni Alkali, explained that the decision to supply the portable public address systems sprang from the recommendations made by local government information officers during a capacity-building training session facilitated by the NEDC.

Alkali emphasized NEDC’s recognition of the crucial role of efficient information dissemination at the local government level. As such, he announced plans to supply additional units of the public address systems to the local government information units.

During a brief handover ceremony at the NEDC headquarters in Maiduguri, 27 units of the public address systems were presented to the Borno state government. Alkali encouraged the recipients to utilize the equipment effectively to publicize government programs and agendas.

Borno state’s Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Professor Usman Tar, accepted the public address systems on behalf of the 27 local government areas. He expressed gratitude for NEDC’s intervention and called for further support in establishing radio stations for broader public information reach.

In addition, he appealed to the NEDC for assistance in setting up virtual connections through multimedia, facilitating more immersive engagement and governance at the grassroots level via the internet.