This retreat which was presided over by the Honourable Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator (Dr) George Akume, fnim had his strong voices and echoes at the end of the summit/retreat. In form of an abridged communique,the Hon. Minister,Senator(Dr) George Akume observed as follows:

1. The Hon. Minister made it known that policies initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration are for the good of common man and Nigerians should pray and support President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies for the good of Nigerians.

2. The Hon. Minister maintained that the border closure policy directive by Mr. President is to support Nigerian farmers, and particularly rice farmers as it will transform their lives and the agricultural potentials of the nation for food security.

3. The Hon.Minister also stated that the retreat organized by the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs with over 200 participants and critical stakeholders is aimed at providing a roadmap for the effective and efficient implementation of the mandates Mr. President’s June 12 promise of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

4. From the findings of the retreat,the Honourable Minister made it known that there has been no synergy and cooperation in policy formulation and programme implementation among the three tiers of government as well as appropriate climatic change sustainable policy aligned to poverty reduction and employment generation.

5. Similarly the Hon. Minister also discovered that Nigeria has not fully keyed into the climate change carbon credit initiative of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-UNFCCC.

6. Deriving from the retreat the Hon. Minister further stressed that intergovernmental formulation and management of policies, programmes and projects are yet to receive adequate attention to make it viable,effective and proactive in line with the Ministry’s Presidential mandate.

7. The Hon. Minister also noted that over the past years of successive governments,all poverty alleviation programmes lack institutional mainstreaming for effective implementation,sustainability and service delivery.

8. The Hon. Minister also observed that the failure of past projects, programmes,policies and other government initiatives was attributable to the gaps in their monitoring and evaluation processes and systems.

9. As policy response to some of the major challenges affecting the efficacy of rural development policies in Nigeria,the Hon. Minister maintained that there should be a review and harmonization of policies on inter-governmental cooperation on the basis of timeline implementation.

10. To effectively use climate change and adaptation in poverty ridden societies, the Hon. Minister opines that the government should realign its climate change policy to stimulate employment generation and wealth creation by keying into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with a view to gaining carbon credit for revenue generation.

11. The Hon. Minister emphasized that for proper,independent,transparent and accountable monitoring and implementation of all special projects that are of national,state and local government importance under the framework of intergovernmental relations,such projects and responsibilities should be domiciled within the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs as a Special Purpose Vehicle-SPV for the delivery of efficient service to the people.

12. The Hon. Minister reiterated on the need for the be establishment of a sustainable institutional regulatory framework to mainstream poverty reduction, wealth creation and sustainable development.

13. The Hon. Minister called for the establishment of An e-Monitoring and Evaluation system that can guarantee the Nigerian value for money and resources meant for growth and development.

14. The Hon. Minister further called for the full implementation of the National Gender Policy in order to tackle the challenges of socio-economic inequalities and the increasing feminisation of poverty which has become a challenge to sustainable development in Nigeria.

15. The Hon. Minister emphasized on the significance of establishing a sustainable inter- ministerial forum through the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairsforum to serve as a platform for relevant stakeholders’ engagement with organized private sector and international organizations and development partners on ways and possibilities of overcoming the emerging challenges of growth and development in Nigeria.