Sworn in as the third elected governor of Kogi State on the 27th of January, 2012, Capt Idris Wada has not relented in his efforts and vision to move the state to the next level with his uncommon transformation programmes.
Situated on the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue, Kogi state experienced one of the worst flood disasters in the history of the country in 2012 which had a profound impact on the government and the people of the state. But the history of the 2012 flood disaster in Kogi State has an uneasy dichotomy; while over 623,690 people were displaced, 61,775 houses were destroyed and 304,775 hectares of farmlands washed away across nine local government councils in the state on one hand, the 2012 flood disaster in kogi state on the other hand triggered a new agro initiative as the Wada administration embarked on aggressive dry season irrigation rice farming, exploiting the flooded river banks of Niger and Benue into fertile rice farmlands.
Apart from providing an advanced regulatory and administrative framework and creation of attractive environment for domestic and foreign investments to achieve diversity in the economic and productive environment in order to continue creating job opportunities for Kogi Sons and Daughters, Many development projects have been approved for enhancing and modernizing the infrastructure, including roads,water & electricity, health & educational services and the Foreign Scholarship Program, which is considered as a long-term investment of human resources by Wada’s administration.
From Agricultural Development to Road Construction; Water Supply to Health Care delivery; and Education to Housing, a lot has been achieved despite constraining financial resources and other challenges. In the area of Agriculture for example, regular and Fadama farmers across the State have been provided subsidised fertilizers, improved seeds, extension services and procurement of excavators, mounted planters, harrows and levelers, harvesters and water pumps for farmers while over five hundred (500) farmers’ cooperative society groups have received financial aids of over five hundred thousand naira (N500,000.00) each to boosts rural entrepreneurial skills. Improved rice seedlings is given to formers at the beginning of every cropping season. In order to ensure food security for the citizens of kogi state and to increase returns for farmers in the state, Capt Idris Wada flagged off the distribution of improved maize seedling yesterday in The agricultural belt of the state capital, Lokoja.
With His strong determination not only to put food on the table for all Kogites but to also direct energy of the state into massive agricultural production for export purposes to boost state’s revenue, bags of Confluence Super Rice, a product of the State Accelerated Rice Programme are commonplace in major markets in Lokoja and it’s environs today.
Under Wada’s government Agricultural policy, the twenty one local government areas of Kogi State are large farm owners deeply engaged in Cassava and Soya Beans cultivations.
These initiatives include the over N50b state owned Cassava processing factories in Dekina and Staple Crop Processing Zone in Alape, Kabba Bunu local government areas respectively.
Within his third year in office, capt Idris Wada not only effectively positioned kogi as the emerging hub for agriculture in Nigeria but has also facilitated tremendous in-flow of foreign direct investment into agriculture particularly in Sugar Cane, palm trees, Cassava and Rice production and processing.
In education, the present administration has recorded tremendous achievements in this sector; College of Education Technical, Kabba and Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja have witnessed massive infrastructural development. Apart from the provision of conducive learning environment, the present administration has also done well in the provision of basic amenities across the campuses of all higher institutions in kogi state. This include construction of water reservoir at college of Education, Ankpa, provision of potable water at both male and female hostels of the Kogi State University, construction of male and female hostels of over six hundred bed spaces each at the Kogi State University Anyigba and construction of administrative blocks at the College of Agriculture Kabba.
In January 2015, Capt Idris Wada pulled the bull by the horn by laying the foundation for the N3.7b 250 beds spaces of School of Medicine of the Kogi State University, Anyigba. The 250 bed teaching hospital is Capt Wada’s administration’s desire to better the lives of the people through better health and other key areas necessary for good living and development as encapsulated in his administration’s transformation agenda.
The hospital which is a two floor building,would comprise major clinical areas of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology. according to medical experts, when completed the Teaching Hospital will have amongst others, five state of the art operating theatre’s, intensive care unit, special baby care unit, state of the art radiology and diagonistic services as well as medical gas plant with oxygen manifold and medical gas piping to all critical areas.
The consistent and noticeable increase in the pass rate of students from the State in WAEC and NECO exams today is the product of commitment of the present administration to education at both primary and secondary levels. Efforts are being made and the bottleneck which occasioned the delay in the payment of teachers’ salary has been removed.
In delivering essential social services to the people of Kogi State, the Wada’s government has had its most notable and admirable successes in the provision of healthcare delivery. It is through the health sector that the Wada transformation became firmly institutionalized in the hearts and minds of the great majority of the people who never before had a government providing for their essential needs this way.
The present Kogi State Government under the leadership of Capt Idris Wada has laid more emphasizes on public health, preventive care, health education, free programs for periodic medical examinations, immunizations and other preventive measures. Aside his messianic deliverance in this sector which has earned the Eagle Soaring Captain and the state the Award for the best Polio Eradication state by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the North-Central and among the best three in Nigeria respectively, Captain Idris Wada’s government has constructed and equipped over sixteen primary Healthcare centers across the state with dilapidated ones revitalized and equipped for public use. this include construction of general hospital at Icheke, Abejukolo, construction of 40 beds General Hospital (on-going) at Odu Ogboyaga and host of others.
Lokoja, the state capital being the meeting point of the north coupled with the high volume of patients at the existing hospitals, and to reduce incident of maternal mortality rate in the state as well as neighbouring states, the state government is establishing a Diagnostic Health Centre in Lokoja at the cost of N1.8b.
According to the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Idris Omede, the centre will have women images centre, mammography for breast cancer, eco-cardiographic centre and haematology centre. While the construction of the centre is about 90% completed, contract for equipping the centre with modern equipment has already been awarded.
In the area of rural water supply, Over 100 Rural Water Projects, involving the provision of motorized bore holes and 20m3 Capacity Pressed Steel Over – head tank; installed with 30KVA Generator have been completed while others are on-going in some Local Government Areas and health institutions across the State.
In addition, Kogi State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, has drilled bore holes at about 107 locations in 13 Local Government Areas of the State, mostly, the West and Central senatorial districts of the state while over N210m Surface Water Project Schemes have been completed at Egume, Emewe Opada and Onitsha Igo respectively.
Electricity is one of the basic and essential needs of every community today. Capt Idris Wada’s administration is meticulously and currently coursing artificial darkness occasioned by absent of electricity supply in many rural communities of Kogi state today. While over 100 communities are being connected to the national grade, over 200 communities have been provided with electricity through the state government’s rural electrification projects.
Strategically, the Wada’s administration constructs an average of 200kms of asphalted roads per year, stretching across the three senatorial zones of the State. Consequently the State Government as at 30th November, 2013 has been able to award contract for the construction and rehabilitation of at least 84 roads with a total length of 703.5 kilometers. Out of these 703.5 kilometers of awarded length of roads, over 400.5km length of asphalted pavement has been achieved with associated drains, culverts and bridges. These include Ojokwu-Okaba-Oturkpo junction road, Ogori-Ageva road, Ankpa dual carriage way, Hassan Katsina Road,Lokoja, Itakpe/Kuroko-Okene road, Idah-Onyedega road (on-going), construction of Ponyan/Irele Ekiti road, on-going construction of Egbe township road, Dekina township road, internal road network of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, Okura township road, construction of Otokiti-Ganaja by-pass multi-lane carriage way (BOND SUPPORTED), rehabilitation of Lokoja township roads and many others.
In the area of social infrastructure and revenue generation, Wada’s administration has also scored a tangible marks. The IGR of the state was around N200M before the administration of Capt Wada but in his diligent and transparent management of resources, Wada’s administration has increased the IGR of the state to around N500M today.
The on-going construction of Kogi House in Abuja and the reconstruction of Kogi Hotel would no doubt increase the revenue base of the state and at the same time create plenty jobs opportunity for Kogi indigene thereby reducing unemployment.
The critical importance of the Kogi House in Abuja was highlighted by the former governor of Kogi state, Prince Abubakar Audu during the foundation-laying ceremony of the house in Abuja. In his words “TODAY is one of the greatest days in my life; in 1992 the state government acquired the land for the construction of Kogi House in Abuja but our administration was abruptly terminated and the land was revoked. My immediate predecessor did nothing to reclaim the land but your administration has done it, not just reclaiming the land but we are here to lay the foundation of Kogi House in Abuja today. You have brought Kogi to the national and international limelight, this is a project we all are proud of because it will create jobs for our teaming unemployment youth”- Prince ABUBAKAR AUDU at the ground breaking ceremony of Kogi House in Abuja.
Confidence is at this moment, very great and solid in the hearts of all Kogites that strong growth and comprehensive development of Kogi economy will continue under Capt Wada’s wise leadership of discipline, transparency, pragmatism, diligent and all-inclusiveness.
Apart from these brand-new projects initiated and some already completed by the present administration, on-going projects of the last government of Kogi state; which include, the Great Lokoja Water Scheme,Confluence Stadium and Confluence Beach Hotel have been completed while works on the new state secretariat have also been completed.
In the period under review, Kogi state has achieved coordinated development between urban and rural areas, in economic and social fields. The state has made simultaneous progress in economic, political, cultural, social areas under the astute leadership of Capt Idris Wada. Nevertheless, Wada’s administration did not takeoff very early, from Kogi political Tarmac, and peoples expectations are very high, but the journey so far has been a progressive one with The Eagle-Soaring Captain as we can now see, Under shared prosperity and effective governance, his administration’s inter-connected policy programmes designed to economically empower the people of Kogi State which is aimed at creating inclusive prosperity for all stakeholders through agriculture, strategic infrastructure, human capital development and youth empowerment is today yielding results.
Onogwu I. Muhammed
