At the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) side event in New York, the Governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris emphasised the importance of AI grants and women’s empowerment for Nigeria’s sustainable development.

This is even as he vowed to make the state Mecca AI leveraging it for agriculture production.

The roundtable, themed “Sustainable Investment, Grants, and Intervention,” was organized by Merited Negotiating Consulting in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international agencies – United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), AIGrants, USA, Strategic Groups, USA LLC and Cheap Summit Networking The Nations

Governor Idris expressed gratitude to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria for hosting the event, stating, “This initiative will help turn the fortunes of Nigeria around. Subnational governments can achieve their full potential through such collaborations.”

Highlighting Kebbi’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he noted, “There will be no turnaround in our economic lives without aligning with the SDGs.”

He said: “For us in Kebbi, our commitment to all the Sustainable Development Goals remain paramount and my administration recognises that there will be no turnaround in the economic lives of our state with devastating problems without an alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.

“A lot of problems we face as sub-national today can be linked directly to issues of climate change, and that is why my administration is one that is fully committed to playing its part in mitigating the impact of climate change on a state that heavily depends on agriculture for the economy survival.

“Already we are in the late stages of establishment of Kebbi State Climate Commission to signal to the world that indeed we are committed as a state to playing our part in the climate change endeavour.

“Similarly, attracting Agric business investment is of paramount importance to our administration. Our administration recognises the comparative advantage we have in agriculture, and we will continually exploit this advantage to the economic benefit of our people and our country at large.

“We also see our role as potential leaders in exploiting renewable energy, particularly in the solar space, being so close to this Sahara, we believe that solar energy will play a vital role in meeting our energy demand in the years decades to come.

“That is why we are putting in place legislation to attract climate financing to energy projects that will drive sustainable industrialization across our agricultural value chains.

“We look at our youthful demographic and recognise the urgent need to put in place policies that will catalyst job creation while liberating technology to be at par with the rest of the world.”

Idris underscored the need for AI grants to drive sustainable industrialization across agricultural value chains.

The governor said: “The advent of artificial intelligence in all walks of life is a race in which we can not be left behind.

“I am committed to making Kebbi State a Mecca of AI. And also particularly in our agricultural space, the promise is vast, and I have no doubt that AI will play a vital role in increasing our agricultural productivities that has thus far hindered economic.”

The governor also stressed the role of women in Kebbi’s development, saying, “My administration is committed to SDG 5 and all our policies and legislation is committed to ensuring women’s protection and participation for economic growth and development.”

SDG 5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, a fundamental human right and crucial factor for sustainable development, encompassing nine targets that address critical issues affecting women and girls globally, including ending discrimination and violence, eliminating harmful practices, valuing unpaid care, ensuring leadership participation, guaranteeing reproductive rights, fostering equal economic resources, promoting empowerment through technology, and adopting policies for gender equality.

He said: “The role of women in our society cannot be overemphasised, my administration is committed to SDG 5 and all our policies and legislation is committed to ensuring women protection and participation for economic growth and development.”

Governor Idris reiterated his support for the achievement of the roundtable’s objectives.

“Indeed, Kebbi State is proud to participate in this endeavour. And I will at this junction reiterate my administration’s full support and the commitment to achievement objective of this very important interaction”, he said.

Source.