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The Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago- led administration in Niger State is at the moment sourcing for funds for its urban renewal and rural development projects across the state.
Speaking through the state Commissioner in in an interactive session with journalists in his office at the New Secretariat,in Tunga ,Minna the Commissioner, Malam Lawal Adamu Maikano,stated that the state government is sourcing for funds for its urban renewal and rural development projects, just as he mentioned why the Governor in conjunction with his cabinet members have opted to keep sealed lips on the stewardship of the immediate past administration of former Governor Abubakar Sani Bello-;led government in the state in the last eight years while highlighting the dreams and aspirations of the incumbent government.
Speaking further, Adamu Maikano noted that state state government performed the first groundbreaking ceremony in its urban renewal projects on Thursday, 14th September, 2023 with the Minna township roads adding that the contractor is CCeCC, while the contract is supposed to be delivered within 30 months.
He said, “during this period, the contractor will do some urban renewal activities ranging from modernization to dualization of some roads around the Minna Metropolitan areas while some internal critical roads would be reworked and modernised
This, he pointed out is in line with the Governor’s agenda for urban renewal, stressing that one of the governor’s four cardinal programmes is urban renewal hilighting that it has to do with the development of the communities, as well.as standardising them to what is obtainable in other state capitals across the country .
According to him, “seeing this commitment, the Governor has demonstrated to be a man of his words and a man of action as he is matching his words with actions by ensuring that all the things he said during his campaigneering period are done accordingly, emphasizing that “It comes with a lot of challenges considering the fact that the funds are not available. But he is thinking outside the box to make funds available, and you can see the amount of mobilization that has happened with the CCECC team”.
He stressed that this shows you that a lot of commitments have been made from the government’s side,adding that . no contractor in the world today would do that kind of mobilization without any commitment from his client, saying This is one of many things to come and they will come on the same force with the possibility of greater force, noting that all the contractors have been mobilized to site and the whole thing is based on what the governor has promised and this would be the line of how we would see the stripes of fulfilment of promises”.
Consequently, the State Commissioner of Finance opined that majorly, what has happened in the last couple of months in the state is all about leadership, adding that the governor has promised to develop a fair and equitable Niger State that would be based on equity, justice, good conscience and service delivery to the people of the state irrespective of their political affiliation, ethnic or religious affiliation, stressing that as far as you are living in the state and you are a law-abiding citizen, you are a friend of the government and the government will do everything to protect and provide security for you.
Maikano however disclosed further that the governor has been meeting up with his commitments in the past couple of months,saying this will continue and we have seen a massive improvement in terms of internal security not just within the metropolis but also in the neighboring communities on then outskirts of Minna.
Accordingly, he said, “very soon, we will see a massive reduction of Internally Displaced Persons, ( IDPs) including the case of people going back to their respective communities doing their thing as they used to, going back to their normal lives as they used to,describing.the ongoing urban Renewal and rural development as parts of the key key critical campaign promises made by governor Umaru Bago, maintaining that the governor is poised at going through them one by one to ensure he fulfills them.
Malam Lawal Admu Maikano explained further that as you can see, the governor has made several commitments and still, we are making some savings. Whatever we get, we don’t blow everything at the same time; we try to save for the rainy days. So, financial discipline and inclusiveness has already been into effect and have been implemented, it will continue in this tradition until we get to the point that we are self-sustained, self-sufficient and we are able to take care of our business.
“If you look at the rural development project of the governor, you could see a massive directional change whereby he created the Ministry of Rural Development. This is one of a kind. I am not sure there is any state in northern Nigeria that has the ministry. He did this because he intended to give a lot of concentration on rural development and not just urban renewal.
“Rural development is one of the key agenda that he set for the government to achieve. There would be a massive inclusiveness of everybody within the system whether in urban or rural areas. The ministry will be key and will have a lot of activities and work going on”, Maikano declared .
He recalled that the governor had said that N1 trillion would be spent in the next couple of years for urban development, rural improvement,hilighting that “We are Nigerlites and some of us have lived in Niger State for a long time, and we can attest to the fact that in the last 10 to 15 years, no government has had this kind of ambitious dream.
“And the beauty about this is that the ambition is matched with willingness and desire for success. It has started manifesting. The action has been taken and very soon, the people will see the result”, he stated .
Fielding questions from journalists on the quantum of compensations to people and organizations whose properties fall within the construction areas within Minna and Bida axis of the state the Commisioner of Finance disclosed that there is a team that is responsible for that.
He said, ‘You know, my job in the Ministry of Finance is to do a check on the sources and application of funds. The consultants responsible for all the roads have already taken their statistics and the people whose properties would be affected should be rest assured that they would be taken care of adequately”,adding that there is a provision for that. We assure the people that if per adventure” you have a property that cuts across or falls in the path of urban renewal, you would be taken care of and you would be compensated”.
On the issue of the IGR of the state, the Finance Commisdioner said, “Over the years, the IGR of the state has grown but on a very slow projection. But in the last couple of years, we have seen a projection ranging between N1.6 billion and N1.8 billion per month. What that means is that we are moving towards N18 billion to N19 billion per annum. But the drive going forward, based on the strategies being put in place, is that we are looking at an average of N120 billion in the coming year. It is a long tall dream and we will do whatever it takes to achieve that with the help of the Governor”..
He however stated that the governor has given the Chairman of the state’s Board of Internal Revenue the go-ahead to do the right and needful thing to ensure that those targets are achieved,adding that that is one aspect of our financing.
The Commissioner also mentioned that other one is that we have credit lines with banks. We have very positive relationships with banks and banks are falling over themselves to offer us their facility so that we can conclude on the constructions that we are embarking on. There are a lot of banks that are lined up and we are choosing. You know why that is so? It is because they have seen the government’s commitment; they have seen a reason why they want to do business with us”.
“We have like seven or eight banks reaching out to us and all of them want to give us facilities, and we are choosing. So there are other revenue aspects that we are looking at, but those are not jokers that we are ready to throw to the public now.
“Again, the FAAC (federal allocation) is there which is coming regularly, and we will make sure that it is utilised judiciously for the development of our state and for the goodwill of our people. We will dish out the jokers as we progress in our activities.
“One thing is for sure: there is funding and people are falling over us. For example, the Islamic Development Bank were here, and we want to use that facility to bring back to life the Minna-Bida Road that has been abandoned for some time. The work will be finished soon”, said the Commisioner.
The Commissioner thereby disclosed that the normal mobilization for contractors is 15 per cent, but he opined that the State governor wants to see how he can galvanise these people to show his seriousness.
He however assured that the governor will work within the procurement law, adding that whatever the procurement law has provided to be given, the contractors will be given, stressing that “Whatever we are going to do, we are going to do it within the ambit and provision of the law. If they do their work the way they need to, we will release the funds as confirmation or certification is being done on the job they do”.
According to him, “We have a vibrant Ministry of Tourism, stressing that one of the key aspects of urban renewal is modern parks and recreational parks.
He said, “Gurara Falls and other recreational facilities in the state will be rejuvenated and will be put to useful action within the shortest possible time. That place can actually generate revenue for us. That axis of Tafa Local Government Area, we believe that when necessary and proper actions are taken, we can generate N1 billion in tax from the Zuba to Tafa axis of the state
Maikano also mentioned that Abuja is getting saturated and people are looking for a gateway, adding that once those places have been developed by putting all these recreational and modern parks in place, that that is where people will want to go, and it would generate huge revenue for Niger state
He said that this is one critical aspect that this government is focusing on. In no distance time assuring thst very soon Nigerlited will see positive things happening around there
It will create job opportunities for a lot of people, cutting across all the cadre.
There are certain deliberate activities that would happen which would improve the standard of living of the people by providing them with jobs.
He pointed out that before the end of the last administration, the imprest given to MDAs was not as forthcoming as it should, emphasizing that there is a concerted effort being done presently to ensure that the imprest being given to these MDAs do not suffer the same fate again.
Malam Adamu Maikano however promised to exercise some restraints not to talk about past administration,saying “We have drawn a line, and we want to ensure that after the tenure of Governor Umaru Bago, let the masses use that to do their judgement.
” What we are focusing on is what we need to do for the betterment of the people living in Niger State. Imprest is a function of availability. You cannot give in the midst of none. When you have, you will give, but you can’t produce when you don’t have.
The ministries and those within the ministries know and understand that there are certain times when exigencies could occur and you can’t get what you are expecting to get. We pray that that won’t be our position. We will always as a matter of fact be able to provide for the people of the state and for the civil servants.
