The North-East Development Commission (NEDC) has begun a three-day 2026 Excellence Forum aimed at strengthening collaboration, internal systems and service delivery across the six states of the North-East.
The forum, which opened in Maiduguri, Borno State, on September 14, brings together staff from the commission’s headquarters and state offices in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba. The initiative is designed to improve how the commission’s standards translate into its day-to-day operations and the development projects delivered to communities.
NEDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Goni Alkali, said the commission’s focus must now move beyond obtaining international certifications to ensuring that those standards produce measurable improvements in its work.
He said the value of the standards would ultimately be determined by the quality of development delivered to people across the region, rather than by the certifications themselves. The forum therefore places emphasis on practical exercises, simulations and real workplace situations intended to strengthen teamwork, problem-solving and service delivery.
The commission's approach is built around five ISO management-system standards covering quality management, environmental management, occupational health and safety, anti-bribery management and sustainable development in communities. NEDC's governance unit says the integrated system is intended to strengthen internal controls, compliance, monitoring and service reform.
That emphasis is significant because the commission's responsibilities extend beyond the construction of physical infrastructure. NEDC says its interventions include roads, schools, healthcare facilities, water projects, housing, livelihoods and capacity-building programmes across the six states. The effectiveness of such programmes depends not only on the amount of money committed, but also on planning, procurement, supervision, accountability and the ability of staff to coordinate implementation.
Alkali said the commission recognised that the quality of its projects would depend on the strength of the institution responsible for delivering them. He therefore identified capable personnel, stronger internal systems and accountability as important parts of the commission's broader development mandate.
The forum also provides an opportunity to address the difference between having formal standards and consistently applying them. Certification can establish procedures and benchmarks, but it does not by itself prove that projects are completed on time, resources are used efficiently or communities receive better services. NEDC's own governance officials have stressed that implementation, continuous review and improvement remain necessary after certification.
This distinction is particularly important for the North-East, where development needs remain substantial after years of insecurity, displacement and economic disruption. Effective coordination between NEDC, state governments, local authorities and communities can help prevent duplication and ensure that limited resources are directed towards projects with lasting value.
The commission has also continued to encourage collaboration at state level. In Taraba, for instance, NEDC officials recently reaffirmed the importance of working with local authorities to identify development needs and implement interventions under the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan.
The real test of the 2026 Excellence Forum, however, will come after the meetings end. Better teamwork and stronger procedures will only become meaningful to residents if they translate into projects that are properly planned, delivered on schedule, maintained and capable of improving living conditions.
For NEDC, the shift from “standards to practice” therefore represents a more demanding stage of institutional development. The commission already has formal management frameworks; the challenge now is demonstrating that those frameworks consistently produce better decisions, stronger accountability and measurable improvements in the communities it serves.
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