What’s your assessment of Kogi State in the past 23 years?
Yes, Kogi State was 23 years old recently. We are celebrating in low key because the state is mourning the death of the late Chairman of Think Tank Committee and former Vice Chancellor of Kogi State University, Professor Francis Idachaba, and the demise of a traditional ruler, the Onijumu of Ijumu land, Oba Sunmonu Jerome.
The journey so far in the 23-year history has been very eventful. In the last two and half years of my administration, we have made substantial progress in terms of security; the state has been kept relatively secure and safe for citizens to go about their businesses. This administration has eliminated thuggery and youth restiveness and focused on youth development as well as on the strategy of teaching the youth how to fish rather than continue to share out fish to them. In the Agriculture sector, we have brought it to its prominence in all parts of the state as people are now embracing Agriculture with renewed interest, vigour and determination to make it a business. We placed emphasis and focus on Agriculture as a business rather than subsistence farming, the efforts were realised through the partnership between the State and Federal Government who have supported the ideas of this administration. There is no doubt this administration has fully embraced the Federal Government’s transformation agenda as it affects agriculture; in-house, the state government has developed its own accelerated rice and cassava production programme. On infrastructure, this administration has completed many inherited road projects and has begun new ones across the three senatorial districts of the state. The state government is equally building a Teaching Hospital at Anyigba to provide for the manpower needs of the state in the health sector.
The River Niger may rise again, what measures have your administration put in place to forestall flood disaster?
The state government is not leaving any stone unturned. We will soon commence construction of embankment (Dyke) from Kabawa junction to International Market. We have just awarded the contract. The embankment will be raised up to be able to sustain the level of water, so by next year when the project must have been completed, it will prevent the issue of water rising and will no longer pose a threat to the people living in that axis. This will also change the face of our state capital. As I have said, that road is going to be expanded and we will plant trees along the area. One thing that attracted me is that whenever I’m coming in and out, that Kabawa area is always very dirty. Another project I want to talk about is our 11-storey building in Abuja. I want thank the Vice-President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, for breaking the ground for us. A lot of work has been done, but because of rain, the contract has been suspended. They have brought in a lot of materials and as soon as the rain subsides, they will move back to the site and continue the construction. This is a landmark for Kogi State and will be delivered on schedule, by the grace of God. On the issue of flooding, the state government has been preparing in the past four months. We have put in place activities to ensure that people are sensitised to know that flood can come any time. We have engaged sanitation workers to clean all drainages. We also monitor water level with assistance of NIWA because they have the right equipment. When you compare the water level this year with that of August 2012, we were already approaching flooding at that time. The case was that a drainage which was not covered led to that incident and I have decided that the drainage is redesigned and channel the water towards the river. So we are better prepared this time round.
Your government has proposed to construct an overhead bridge to reduce traffic congestion at Ganaja Junction; when would this project start?
This project is in our budget with about N1.3 million voted. When we met another consultant who said we would just be throwing away money, that, what we need is a redesign. You will recall that we have commenced work on the bypass from Otokiti to Ganaja, that is going to take care of some of motorists coming to the town when we finish that road. The traffic going to the western and northern part of the country will no longer need to pass through the town again. With opening up of the road, we will have an impact on Ganaja Junction.
Kogi was adjudged to have come first in primary education under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programme recently, how did you achieve this feat?
We thank God that Kogi State is ranked the best in enrolment in achieving the Millennium Goals in 2015, and we have gone beyond that. We are now looking beyond 2015 and how the programme is going to serve our people better. This was done by determination, focus, paying attention to what the people need and doing the right thing with the little resources available to us. Though we have some challenges in payment of teachers’ salaries, however, teaching aids have been supplied to many of our schools.
You talked about constructing a bridge across River Niger to link the other side of Lokoja, how far have you gone with this project? Second, the Lokoja Metro Bus Service has been restricted to one road, that is from Barracks to Felele, are there no plans to ply other routes?
The Shintaku Bridge is a project that is very close to my heart. My hope is that during my tenure we will accomplish it, but it is public-private partnership-driven project, government is the facilitator and partner. For a private sector project, you must do a thorough feasibility study, they must aggregate the fund required for the project. These are steps that must be taken before the project is sustained. They are also looking for partnership with a construction company. All I need to do is to go and inspect the site. They are targeting the roundabout to Shintaku. This is big project that requires funding. As at now, they’re doing a feasibility study, financial implication and looking for a workable partner. On the issue of the metro buses, we have done a feasibility study and bought 12 buses, trained drivers. We have a maintenance service in place. It is a long term project. We have decided to run the three routes for now, we will monitor the result and obtain public reaction and see how it is working before we start plying other roads. I believe we should not rush so as not to fail.
You are always frank; why have you always sounded a note of warning to other politicians? am frank by nature. I have come here to serve the people of Kogi to the best of my ability, with the little resource available from the federation account and what we can generate internally and what we can attract from the development partners who are ready to work with us. It is natural for me to tell you how I feel because one day, I will leave this office and I will be walking in a street by the grace of God like any of you. I will continue to work towards the progress of the state. I am just a simple person, an ordinary man from a village. I am a very patient person and I abhor violence. Even when one assumes office, one can never revive a soul. Some are doing this only on paltry N10,000. This is why I am against violence. It was necessary to tell them at Ajaka. I am totally against injustice. I am preaching equity, justice and fairness and that was why I was telling them not to be violent and if they go violent, they would face the full weight of the law.
