The Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) is a development agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria with the mandate to ensure the sustainable social, economic and infrastructural development of border communities in Nigeria.
The Agency was established in 2003 by an Act of the National Assembly known as the Border Communities Development Agency Act, 2003 (as amended in 2006). The formal inauguration of the Governing Board of the Agency to supervise its activities was done December 10, 2009.
In order to achieve the mission and vision statements, the Agency has two levers of decision making. The first is the Governing Board which is composed of very eminent representatives from the six geo-political zones, ministers in charge of federal ministries that are empowered to provide development interventions across the country, an executive secretary that doubles as the chief executive officer of the Agency and secretary to the Board. The Governing Board is responsible for providing the general policy guidelines for the day-to-day administration of the Agency.
The second lever of decision making is the Management committee responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the Governing Board. The Executive Secretary is the head of the management committee and is supported by the various heads of department which include Administration, Finance and Accounts, Project Development and Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Planning and Intergovernmental Relations. The combination of the Governing Board and the Management Committee is expected to steer the ship of the Agency to actualize its mandate.
The Agency hopes to develop a long term strategy document in the form of a Five Year Master-Plan that will aid the Agency in the systematic and structured development of border communities. The Master-Plan is expected to align with the vision of the government as encapsulated in the Vision20:2020 and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target of the government by 2015.
The Agency currently serves as the secretariat of the Presidential Committee on the Security situation in Bakassi Peninsula. The Committee is mandated to ensure that the security and welfare of Nigerian citizens in the Bakassi Peninsula that was ceded to Cameroun is guaranteed. The Agency also inherited the Bakassi Returnees project which is aimed at ensuring that Bakassi returnees to Nigeria settle down and engage in their primary occupation of fishing along the coastal communities.
The Agency is located at 4 Augustus Aikhomu Street, Utako, Abuja.