NGGTour Kogi: Gov. Wada insists on continuity of projects to uphold Good Governance.

[FMINigeria]

As part of his administration's policy thrust to entrench and sustain Good Governance and promote continuity, Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State says all on-going projects inherited from his predecessor have been embarked upon for completion.

Speaking at Government House Lokoja on Friday when he received members of the National Good Governance Tour led by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku during a courtesy visit, the Governor said excellent development in the interest of the people required excellent and painstaking planning.

"With all glory to God for what we have been able to accomplish in our 20 months in office, we have intentionally decided not to make noise but to allow the projects to speak for themselves", Capt. Wada said.

He named some of the projects inherited from the previous administration to include the Confluence Stadium, Phase II of the Secretariat Complex and the Confluence Beach Hotel.

Wada also informed that his State in recent times, is witnessing an influx of foreign and domestic investors due to the enabling environment created.

Expressing his appreciation to the NGGTour Team for visiting the State, the Governor said "The National Good Governance Tour visit, undertaken to showcase the various development projects of both the Federal Government and the State Government, could not have come at a better time when the electorate have duly being asking pertinent questions.

"Of course, in a democracy, it is right for the people to inquire and to follow very keenly. the progress of government in the emancipation of the people through projects, both infrastructural and otherwise, as had been made as part of our election promises", the Governor stated.

Governor Wada said a total of 35 projects were selected out of several other projects completed or being executed by both the Federal and Kogi State governments in our State for inspection during the NGGTour

He said "They cover a cross section of projects traversing infrastructure, economy, education, health, social and other developments.

"As your Team has visibly noticed and commented upon, our projects in Kogi have been carefully undertaken to effectively key into the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR.

"Our Transformation Agenda in Kogi State is in line with the Federal Agenda and has four cardinal focal priorities of: Good Governance, Capacity Development in Education and Health, Agriculture and Infrastructure".

He told the Team that Kogi State, which is 22 years old, with about 3.6 million inhabitants in 21 local governments, is strategic, unique and significant to Nigeria.

"As you may be aware, we are surrounded by 9 states and the FCT, we have the confluence of two major rivers in West Africa (River Niger and River Benue), thousands of people pass through our state from 23 states using Kogi as gateway between the north and the south".

In his remarks, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku reiterated that the National Good Governance Tour was initiated to inspect both Federal and State Government projects in Kogi State.

He recalled that the idea of a Media Tour was first initiated by former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana 2 years ago noting that the opposition then was bent on making the government in power look bad and appear not to be working.

He told his audience that by nature, power in a democracy is competitive and this as a result would instigate debates on the policies and programmes of government.

The Minister said this was one of the reasons for the decision to embark on the National Good Governance Tour in order to bring to the fore the achievements of government in this democratic era.

Mr. Maku said "When I assumed office as Minister of Information, we designed this programme in collaboration with the National Planning Commission and Office of the Special Adviser to the president on performance monitoring to enable us discuss development because democracy is about service delivery.

"The programme was endorsed by the Governors' Forum and we have even visited states that are governed by other parties such as APGA and CPC.

"Because the Federal Government is remote, people collect money and fly out and don't do the jobs. We saw examples of very bad projects and the Federal Government had to terminate some contracts because of the report submitted by the NGGT team".

He also noted that some governors of states visited by the Team attested to the fact that because of the Tour, state officials had become proactive in the discharge of their duties.

The Minister stated further that the Federal Government has strong presence in Kogi State and is implementing projects such as the Jamata River Port, the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene highway, Power Stations and rail lines among others. Maku therefore assured of the Federal Government's commitment to continue to sustain the funding of some of the through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

"Nigeria is moving forward and democracy is the hope of the country. We must do everything possible to ensure this democracy works.

Commissioner for Information Kogi State, Mr. Yabagi Bologi in his remarks said the idea of the NGGT was well conceived because of the saying that 'seeing is believing'. According to him, the Governor has touched every sector of the economy in his policies and programmes.

The Commissioner noted that the team had been on ground for the past two days but insisted that the time allotted for the inspection of projects was not sufficient to fully cover the arrears of achievements of the administration.

Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria