The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) says it will soon set up a committee to facilitate its collaboration with the Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

NSGF Chairman, Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno who stated this while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Maiduguri, said that the collaboration with IDB would fast-track development in the zone.

Shettima, who returned to the country after leading an official delegation to the bank's headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, described the visit as fruitful. He said that the committee would work towards implementing the outcome.

"We went under the canopy of the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum (NNGF) with my colleagues from Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa and Jigawa state, all geared towards bringing development to the North. "As you all know, the Northern part of Nigeria is the poorest of the zones.

"Luckily, the president of the IDB, Dr Ahmed Ali, received us warmly; we had fruitful discussions with them," Shettima said. The governor said that the discussions at Jeddah centered on three main areas of power, health and agriculture.

"The president also committed himself towards supporting Northern Nigeria in the area of Solar Power technology. "We are already working to set up an action committee on the issue; the names of the members will be announced in due course. They will actualise all the plans because it is easy to talk, but we want to walk the talk," he said.

Shettima, however, expressed optimism that the planned collaboration would start yielding dividends in a short while. "Believe me, our plan will start yielding dividends in the next coming weeks and months," he said.