The Good Governance Tour Team that visited Kogi State have come and gone but the memory will forever linger in the minds of the people as the tour clearly shows a judicious use of tax payers money and that the state is also in safe hands and on the fast lane of purposeful development.
For four days even as the team tried, it was difficult visiting all of the state government projects. The state presented about forty completed projects for inspection while the local government area had over three hundred projects some completed and others ongoing.
The team certainly would have required a whole year to complete its assignment as the over a hundred and fifty experienced journalists led by the Minister for Information Labaran Maku were meticulous and systematic in their approach in appraising all projects visited and inspected.
The tour of the projects afforded the Kogi State Government the opportunity to show case its efforts in touching the lives of its citizenry under the transformation agenda of Capt Idris Wada.
To the surprise of the visiting team,it was discovered that so much had been achieved within the present democratic dispensation in the state since 2011 to date,with the team giving a pass mark and commendation to the prudence use of funds by the Capt Idris Wada led administration.
Maku in one of his comments after inspecting the State Government Post Flood Housing Estate described it as a model for other states to emulate, urged the people to see democracy as a work in progress and not an end .
The Minister commended president Jonathan for industralizing the nation, just like Capt Idris Wada, said that the power road map will ensure stable power supply and revolutionalize the sector just like the telecome and cement sector.
According to Maku, both the federal and the state governments have tried in the area of project execution in Kogi State, assured that just as Capt Wada is committed to the completion of inherited projects, no project of the Federal Government would be abandoned.
Another discovery by the Journalists while on the assessment tour in the state was the fact that most projects executed by the present administration are projects that are having direct bearing on the lives of the people with Adeyinka Amosun one of the Journalists in the team describing democracy as the best form of government that can deliver at the doorsteps of the people gains of democracy.
While at the state polytechnic where the team inspected the on going construction of Male and Female Hostels and a Vocational Training centre, the good quality of work caught the attention of the team.
Despite the challenges facing the nation’s democracy, its gains Rotimi Obamuagun a National officer of the Nigeria Union of Journalist who was also in the team, explains far out weighs the disadvantages.
Mr Osadaloh, Special Adviser to the Minister of Information commended the judicious utilization of resources in the Greater Lokoja Water, Confluence Beach Hotel and the State Secretariat, some of the projects presented for inspection by the Capt Idris Wada led administration.
The visiting team commended the completion of inherited projects and the inauguration of new other projects that are beneficial to the people as a strong point of the Wada led administration.
Attracted by the sincerity shown by the Wada led administration in providing gains of democracy to the people, Labaran Maku at a town hall meeting as part of programs of the teams visit called on the people to show more support to the administration in the state, adding that it has the will to do more for the people in the years ahead.
Some of the other places visited by the Minister and other top government state functionaries where the state government got commendation include; the accelerated rice farms of the state government at Hukumi, Lokoja and Banda as well as the crop processing zone in Alape.
The team also inspected work at the Display Assembling plant and workshop located inside the ADP premises in Lokoja and inspected some completed and on going roads across the state.
Other places visited by the officials are the newly completed state secretariat complex, the Confluence Olympic size stadium, the State University Anyigba among other places.
The Good governance team also took time to visit projects executed by both the Federal government while in the State.
While receiving the Minister for Information, Comrade Labaran Maku in Government House at the town hall meeting, one of the session and part of the Good Governance tour of the Federal and State Governments’ Projects in Kogi state, the state Governor, Captain Idris Wada said that “Very soon the efforts of his administration will begin to yield fruitful dividends, and said the die-hard critics and cynics of his administration will recoil into their shell in nail-biting dispositions”.
He mentioned that the projects presented to the team were selected out of the several projects completed or being executed by both the Federal and Kogi State governments in the State. The projects which he noted covers a cross-section of projects traversing infrastructure, economy, education, health, social and other developments,are real dividends of democracy.
His words,”as is evident by some of the projects inspected, we also embarked upon the principle of continuity to complete all on-going projects inherited from my predecessor.
These include the Confluence Stadium, Phase II of the Secretariat Complex and the Confluence Beach Hotel.
“My administration has also implemented the Youth Empowerment Programme to create jobs for and creatively engage all our Youth who daily roam the streets for employment opportunities.
“The YAD4KOGI Programme has to date trained about 4,000 youths in various entrepreneurial skills that engage all of them and make them potentially able to also employ labour.
“In addition, Kogi State in recent times, the governor added is witnessing an influx of foreign and domestic investors due to the enabling environment we have created and installed as fundamental to socio-economic transformation of Kogi State.
“Let me single out our Agricultural Transformation Agenda that underscores my belief in the use of agriculture to transform the state, provide thousands of employment and create wealth for our people. Your Team has visited and seen our value chain investments in rice, soya bean and cassava at our Staple Crop Processing Zone at Alape”.
Captain Wada stressed that without sounding immodest his administration has been able to accomplish so much in his 20 months in office, and said “we have intentionally decided not to make noise but to allow the projects to speak for themselves stressing that his Administration has placed great premium on enabling laws, setting up administrative structures including Public Procurement laws, Fiscal Responsibility laws, and Public Sector Governance projects as the software to manage all the hardware/infrastructural development in the state.
Speaking further, Governor Wada said the funds received following the flood that ravaged the state was judiciously spent and that the record of how the fund was spent are there for all to peruse.
On the internally generated revenue, governor Wada said his administration is working hard to improve the IGR as all the lopehole discovered had been blocked while a mechanism to monitor the exercise has been put in place to arrest those diverting the revenue to private pockets.
The good governance team which for four days traversed the length and breadth of the state applauded the good intentions of the Capt Idris Wada’s brilliant execution of projects.
The visit mostly looked at extent of work, amount expanded on projects and when those still in progress will be completed. For example at the Diagnostic Centre, the Kogi state Commissioner for Health, Idris Omede said that the state health centre would be ready for commissioning by middle next year.
The Commissioner the said the project cost the state government N1.8 billion.
According to him, the centre will have women images centre, mammography for breast cancer, eco-cardiographic centre and haematology centre, saying that the contract for equipping the centre with modern equipment has already been awarded.
He said the concept for the hospital was informed by the fact that Lokoja was a meeting point of the north coupled with the high volume of patients at the existing hospitals, saying that it will reduce incident of maternal mortality rate in the state as well as neighboring states.
Dr Idris said the project which is about 60 percent completion would be operated on public private partnership (PPP), assuring that the project is a top priority of the government.
While taking her turn, Mrs Hadiza Onotu,Commissioner for Water Resources,said the reticulation of the Greater Lokoja Water Project, which is the last phase of the scheme would gulp N4.5 billion. The Commissioner disclosed that the project which was inherited from the immediate past administration, had so far gulped over N13.5 billion.
According to her, the present administration spends N350 million every month for maintenance and operation of the water project, disclosing that the state government was poised to the reticulation so as to enable the people of Lokoja and it environs enjoy potable drinking water.
Onotu added that the reticulation would cost the Kogi State government N4.5 billion, saying the Chinese company would continue to run the scheme for the time being due to the delicate nature of the project.
In the housing sector,One hundred and five contractors were engaged by the Kogi State government to build 272 units of houses in Lokoja for victims of last year’s flood.
The Commissioner for Lands and Housing Engineer Stephen Mayaki said this and said that most of the houses will be allocated free to flood victims, while others will be sold to interested persons at an affordable rate.
Mayaki, who assured that the project will be completed in a few months time, said the estate will have one bedroom apartments to be sold at N1.8 million and two bedroom apartments to be sold at N2.4 million.
A total sum of N565 million he added was expended on the houses.
Mayaki added that the state is also planning to create an island for people in flood prone areas so that they can relocate during flood.
The visit of the good governance team to Kogi State is coming few days to the two year anniversary of the present administration.
The tour of completed and ongoing project by the good governance team has however shown that the state is working and has a pass mark from the people.
– Report compiled by Micheal Abu
