Gombe at 30: Yahaya pledges faster growth as state marks three decades

Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has pledged to speed up development and widen economic opportunities as the state marks 30 years since its creation on 1 October 1996, Voice of Nigeria reports.

In an anniversary message, the governor credited the state's 10-year development plan, known as DEVAGOM, with guiding investment in education, health, infrastructure, agriculture and public-sector reform.

He said 228 primary healthcare centres had been revitalised and general hospitals upgraded, and that more than 1,000 kilometres of roads had been built or rehabilitated under the Network 11-100 programme and other projects. He also cited the 1,000-hectare Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, an Agro-Livestock Development Zone, erosion-control work and the Gombe Goes Green tree-planting initiative.

The governor described the clearance of inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired civil servants as a major milestone. Yahaya, who chairs the Northern Nigeria Governors' Forum, also congratulated President Bola Tinubu on the 66th Independence anniversary and called for unity and democratic development.