Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, has said Boko Haram insurgents have been weakened but not completely defeated.

Yahaya spoke on Saturday at the 13th meeting of the forum in Maiduguri, Borno State, where he identified insecurity as one of the major challenges still confronting northern Nigeria.

“Boko Haram has been weakened but not defeated, and we still see attacks on our communities. Banditry and communal clashes are emerging as new threats,” he said.

The governor said persistent insecurity had made it difficult for many people displaced by violence to safely return to their communities.

He also expressed concern over the slow pace of major development projects in the region, including the Mambilla hydropower project, regional railway connections and broadband expansion.

Yahaya said the North continued to face significant challenges in healthcare and education despite progress recorded in some areas over the past six years.

Reflecting on the formation of the North East Governors’ Forum in Gombe in March 2020, he said the initiative was driven by the need for collective action to address challenges that individual states could not tackle alone.

“When we first met in Gombe, we did so out of necessity. The challenges confronting our region were greater than any one state could solve alone,” he said.

According to him, insecurity, banditry, cross-border crime, poor infrastructure, inadequate power supply and the humanitarian crisis remained issues requiring regional cooperation.

Yahaya, however, said the forum had recorded progress in infrastructure, electricity, economic development, human capital development and security.

He also described the Kolmani oil exploration project as a major opportunity for the region, stressing that it should ultimately lead to oil production, employment opportunities and increased government revenue.