RismadarVoice Reporters, June 4, 2026
The United Nations has signalled its readiness to throw its full weight behind Zamfara State’s development drive, with Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed describing the state as a place brimming with potential that deserves greater global attention.
Mohammed made the declaration during a recent visit to the state, where she led a high-powered UN delegation that included the country heads of UNDP, UNODC, UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR, UNAIDS and UNFPA.
Clearly impressed by what the state government laid out, she said the presentations alone were sufficient grounds for a partnership to take shape. “This is enough for us to be able to partner,” she told her hosts.
The UN’s second-highest official said the visit was driven by a desire to shift international focus toward grassroots realities, arguing that communities at the local level consistently bear the heaviest burdens while having the least resources and the weakest institutional support.
She noted that high-level visits of this nature serve an important purpose beyond diplomacy they bring attention to the sacrifices of ordinary people caught in crises they did not cause. “We give visibility to the effort that has been made and to the impact of what is happening elsewhere in the world on people who have nothing to do with what caused it in the first place,” she said.
On Zamfara specifically, Mohammed said she saw a state ready to do the hard work. She pointed to its mining sector, its market potential and critically a leadership she described as willing to engage with institutions and frameworks to deliver results.
She was equally candid about the shared responsibility required to turn that potential into progress, stressing that the governor could not carry the burden alone and that every stakeholder had a role to play.
“There is a lot of hope and potential here,” she said, before offering the UN’s most direct commitment of the visit: “The United Nations is willing to be a genuine partner to Zamfara State.”
