The North-East Development Commission on Thursday donated 130 luggage trolleys to six airports across the North-East, alongside broadcasting equipment to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria as part of ongoing reconstruction and recovery efforts in the region.
Speaking during the handover ceremony in Maiduguri, Borno State, the Managing Director of the North-East Development Commission, Muhammad Alkali, said the intervention was aligned with the agency’s mandate to support rebuilding efforts in a region affected by years of insurgency and instability.
He explained that the commission has been working closely with key stakeholders, particularly in the media sector, to identify priority needs before making interventions.
He said, “We are here as part of our mandate to support the rebuilding process in the North-East. From the beginning, we have been collaborating with the media because everyone needs information. This is why we are donating these items to the FRCN.
“The donated items. Credit. Isah Ojo. “What we did was not just a kind of supply approach, we engaged all our partners to know their demand. We engaged the FRCN in discussion and narrowed it down to what is needed specifically. This is why we introduced these items. This gesture cuts across all sectors; we have done the same thing with the police, military and media.”
Alkali further disclosed that the 130 trolleys were shared among six states in the region, noting that the intervention targets basic operational gaps in aviation services.
“FAAN is also another very important agency. We all travel through the airports and must have seen the challenges.
“This is why we decided to look at the low-level needs for a start. As basic as trolleys, they are struggling to have enough. This is why we decided to start with these 130 trolleys before we go into the next step,” he said.
According to him, the distribution was done across Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states, with each state receiving allocations tailored to their needs.
He also noted that the commission extended similar support to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria through technical broadcasting equipment. Handing over the items, the Managing Director of the North-West Development Commission, Abdullahi Maji, said the equipment would strengthen information dissemination across the region if properly utilised.
He said: “By the authority conferred on me by the MD of the North-East Development Commission, I hand over the following items: 5KW transmitter including antenna system and installation, six-bay broadband antenna, two computers for on-air studio, and two computers for each production studio.”
He added that the package also included a 16-channel professional console, distribution amplifier, FM tuner, four condenser microphones, drone cameras, chairs, cables, printers, lighting kits, routers, consoles, plugs, connectors, laptops and tables, among others.
Reacting to the donation, the Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Muhammad Bulama, said the support would significantly enhance broadcasting capacity in the North-East.
“For me, the most important assistance here today is the supply of solar power to our stations. With this, it means our stations in the North-East can now broadcast 12 to 15 hours per day. We say thank you to NEDC for listening and granting our request,” he said.
Also speaking, the Regional Manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria at Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, Fatima Aliyu, said the donated trolleys would improve passenger experience and ease baggage movement across airports in the region.
“We thank the Managing Director of the NEDC and his team for the donation of the trolleys. They will really go a long way, as they will add comfort and ease the movement of passengers’ luggage to different parts of Nigeria,” she said.
