The date was January 27 2012 and the venue was the Banquet Hall of Lugard House Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. Capt. Idris Wada and Arch. Abayomi Awoniyi had just been administered with their oats of office as governor and deputy governor respectively. The suddenness of the inauguration and the attendant confusion gave the men a rather testy start in governance. But, in the midst of those overwhelming teething challenges, the duo never lost an opportunity to declare their resolve not to abandon the projects of the preceding administration. ‘There will be no abandoned projects’ was the refrain in the mouth of the governor and his deputy. Perhaps to underscore his believe in continuity, the governor’s first pronouncement was a directive to all political appointees to remain in their duty posts.
The unspoken convention among most public office holders in Nigeria is to ignore inherited projects while rushing to embark on fresh ones. And it does not matter the value of such projects. But, the Wada administration has deviated from that well threaded path. In virtually every sector of the state economy, the administration has continued to fund projects it inherited from the immediate past administration of former Governor Ibrahim Idris.
“Ours is a government of continuity. It is from one People’s Democratic Party, PDP government to another PDP government. We will continue with and concentrate on all the good and people oriented projects and programmes of the last administration. Communities with on going projects are assured of early and logical completion” the governor assured at a public function in those early days.Since that time, the clock has never stopped ticking- days have rolled to weeks, and weeks into months. The Wada/ Awoniyi administration is now one year in office and more or less on trial in the court of public opinion.
The Wada administration began to demonstrate this resolve by first embarking on an assessment of all on going projects. The Governor and his Deputy inspected all projects located in and outside the state capital with a view to ascertain the level of work and what is needed to complete them. The fisrt place visited by the new governor was the state university in Anyigba. There he assured the university community that education will be a major priority of his administration and that he will complete all on-going projects in the institution. In the course of time, the governor promptly released funds for all on-going projects in the school. Already, the buildings and laboratory for the faculty of Medicine have been completed and the faculty is ready for take off. In the same way funds have been injected into on-going projects in Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja and the state College of Education in Kabba. The schools have since won the appearance of busy construction sites.
One project in this category is the Greater Lokoja Water Scheme. The fifty Million gallon per per day capacity project had a debt over hang of about One billion Naira. The project cost is 13 Billion Naira. In order not to interrupt continuous potable water in the state capital, the Wada administration promptly paid up the debt. The payment also included 418 Million Naira for the Operation and Maintenance ( O&M) contract to CGC NIG Ltd, the contractor handling the project. With the payments, reticulating of pipes to areas not initially covered has been completed. Thus places like Chari Maigumeri Barracks, Beach Area, Phases I and II, Adankolo Housing Estate and Adankolo New Layout among others have access to pipe Bourne water.
The FIFA standard Confluence Stadium, Lokoja has being receiving attention of the Wada government. Before the administration came on board, the 30,000 capacity stadium was almost ready for use. Among other finishing touches, the administration completed the perimeter fencing of the stadium and laying of interlock round the tartan tracks. FIFA fibre goal posts and two 500 KVA generating sets have been purchased and installed at the stadium.
Another project that received the devotion of the Wada administration is the 100 room capacity Five Star Confluence Beach Hotel. The hotel was conceived by the last administration to boost the tourism potentials of the state. The initiative included a sea transportation package that will ferry tourists to a proposed rest house at the confluence of the rivers Niger and Benue. The hotel is receiving final touches ahead of it’s inauguration, which is expected to be soon.
In a similar development, the administration has continued with the second phase of the state secretariat, to reduce office accommodation shortage faced by the state work force. The project is being handled by a Chinese firm and will soon be ready for use.
But the continuity agenda is not limited to the state capital. In the rural areas, the administration has continued to fund initiatives meant to halt rural urban migration. Thus, the government has completed work on Township Roads in Idah, Ogaminana and bridges on Shintaku Odugbo Mozun road. Other roads in Kabba, Iyara, Itakpe, Kotonkarffe, Ogori, Takete Ide and Ofugo are in different stages of completion. Closely related to these is the Lokoja Mount Patti Road. The road takes off from the Confluence Stadium and terminates on the Mt. Patti famous for habouring the Rest House of Lord Lugard, the first governor of colonial Nigeria. The road is expected to broaden the tourism base of the state.
Some of the products of the continuity agenda are abstract. The payment of bursary and examination fees for all final year students of the state in secondary schools rank first here. Till date, the administration has disbursed the sum of. to pay the WAEC fees of its wards and particularly to relieve the burden on indigent parents. Also of note is the payment of salary and allowances to all categories of civil servants in the state. The Wada administration has continued with the inherited tradition of paying wages as and when due. In fact, it is one of the few states in the federation where relativity and minimum wage are enjoyed by all classes of civil servants. The overwhelming effect of all these, is the industrial harmony and peace noticeable in the Confluence State.
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