Niger To Partner Private Investors  To Revive Agriculture, Reneweable Energy,  State Owned Transport Authority

… Government To take delivery of 500 Vehicles through PPP

The Niger State government has reiterated it’s commitment to revive the state owned Transport Authority through partnership with private investors  who are ready to put their money in the sector in order  to boost the transport system and ease the transportation problem hitherto faced by the people.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Private Partnership(PPP)Mr  Jonathan Tsado Vatsa stated this during an interactive session with the newsmen on Thursday in Minna, adding that  talks have reached an advance stage with a private company, Samzung and  Rakiyat  Project Ltd. through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to bring in no fewer than 500CMG Buses  to be distributed to different commercial transport operators in the state.

These organizations according to Vatsa, includes National Association of Road Transport Owners( NARTO),  National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and ACOMORAN among others.

Jonathan Vatsa, an erstwhile Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Niger State and State Publicity Sererary of the Niger State chapter of All Progressives Congress( APC)  said  Samzung  and Rakiyat Project limited had  agreed to partner with the state government in the area of transportation and will be bringing in 500 different brands of CMG  Vehicles including Suzuki and Toyota Hiace Buses  to boost the transportation system in the state.

He stated further that the  targeted beneficiaries will be the National Union of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Association of Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycles Operators in the state with the government providing the enabling environment.

Accordingly, he emphasized  that the  only way  the present Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago-led administration in the state can realize it’s dreams of a new Niger state agenda  is to embrace the concept of Public Private Partnership(PPP) which he described as  the engine oil of genuine  development all over the world today, hilighting  that the government has lined up a number of developmental projects to be undertaken through Public Private Partnership( PPP). initiative.

He stated further that It was  obvious that the money from the monthly Federation Account  Allocation cannot achieve the desired results, saying,  that all the bottle necks hat were responsible for the failure of such arrangements in the successive administrations in the state are being taken  care of”.

He  added that , “if we must achieve the desired  results then we must be ready to do things differently. It cannot be business as usual.

“High level of corruption, nepotism, greed,  selfishness and lack of sincerely contributed to the failure of similar PPP arrangements in the state in the past but this administration cannot condone  such practices again if we’re genuinely trying to develop and grow as a state in Nigeria.

.”We have studied why such PPP arrangements had  failed in the past and this government will not allow such things  to repeat itself now. You cannot be doing one thing the same way  and yet you expect a different result”, he declared.

He maintained that with the improved security situation across the state in recent times, the state is now safe for investors that are willing to invest in the state, saying that “the recent onslaught against the bandits and other criminal elements across   the state by security agents, in collaboration with Local Hunters and the Vigilante groups, that  peace is gradually returning to the state”.