‘Revenue formula should be fairly packaged’

[TheNation]

  Shema  

Governor Ibrahim Shema administration in Katsina State  has impacted  in areas of infrastructural development, education and health. In this interview with Isah Idris he explains the major focus of his goverment,  youth development and revenue sharing formula.

Which areas are you going to focus on in your [/size]second term?

[/size] [/size]Coming to office in 2007 was a huge challenge in the sense that we met a lot of ongoing projects, that are critical to the lives of the people of Katsina State.

[/size]I thank God that by the time we spent two years in office almost 98 per cent of all the projects I inherited were completed. These ranged from Katsina International Airport expansion, development of Turai Yar’Adua Child and Maternity Hospital, development of the state university which was just awarded when I came. Other projects like roads, infrastructures, rural electrification, rural water supply, school construction and every other projects inherited. Thereafter, we launched to our own programmes of development of infrastructures. However, we have three clear focuses and number one is education. In education we decided to embark on massive development of the sector. Number two is agriculture, which remained one of the most important sectors that we feel we must continued put in do our best. This is  the mainstay of the people in Katsina State. So, we cannot afford to ignore agriculture, so we have to pay attention to it. The third is solid mineral and human resources development. Side by side, we face other challenges like issue of health, transport and the rest of them. Alhamdullilah, in this second term, our duty is to continue to do the best we can and render the best services possible to the people of Katsina State.   One of the areas that we will focus this time around is not to complete the projects that we initiated. We have giant projects like the orthopedic hospital, 35,000 capacity stadium, government house, we have six lane roads going round the Katsina city. We have so many other roads construction across the length and breath of state, electricity project, school expansion programmes and health facility expansion programme. We also want to pay special attention to irrigation agriculture, livestock development, water supply and education. With the type of projects you are looking at, how are you going to finance them?We will cope with the little resources at our disposal. We will use essentially public funds available. As a governor, I have never borrowed a Kobo since the start of my administration. We have not borrowed during our first term and we have not borrowed to date because we tried to manage the meager resources at our disposal. We didn’t borrow because we have no need for it. We tried to meet up our contractual obligations as at when due. And provided the contractual obligations met all the necessary certified regulations and laws of our land. When all obligations and contractual agreements are met and we are satisfied, we proceed to pay. Where there are uncompleted projects or any other reason that will not make payment possible, otherwise we don’t owe contractors deliberately. We don’t owe civil servants, we tried to pay pension and gratuity as at when due. Every month we have a salary bill of close to N1.5 billion and N1.6 billion and we have a workforce of 25, 000 people in the state. We have started implementation of minimum wage at state level. There are some hiccups we are trying to sort out for those in the local government areas. Whatever our commitments are, we will meet them. What ever group of people it affects, whether in the public or private sector that is having anything to do with the government, we will meet our financial obligation.Youth restivesness is a major challenge, how are you tackling this?   We have tremendous programmes for youth development and advancement. Apart from offering free education, there is an opportunity for youths to acquire education which has made primary and secondary education free. We pay for their examination likr WAEC, NECO and other form of examinations. We equally felt there is need for local governments to participate in the youth development. I therefore directed in the last few years that each of the local government should have 500 youths in one month to proceed for environmental sanitation exercise. We also directed that the local government should have 500 youths each to carry out tree planting exercise in last August. We still have a program for 1,000 youths who are qualified with NCE certificate who are unemployed, to teach in our primary schools in the local government areas. Will you say the state has been peaceful despite the breach of public peace in the north?We give glory to Almighty God that it is in his favour and kindness that Katsina has remained peaceful. We work hard to ensure people are united and every sector of the society is given an opportunity to live and earn a living according to the dictates of their ability. Therefore, I am very happy that Katsina people are giving us maximum cooperation and the security agencies are doing their own best to ensure that there is protection of lives and property. When will the orthopaedic hospital begin operation and how will you get the manpower?Yes, the orthopedic hospital is a very important project for us in the state. We conceived and started it because there is only one orthopedic hospital in the whole of Northern Nigeria, the only one that is in Kano and is own by the federal government. We felt we should complement the effort of the one in Kano. The one we are now building is 250 bed spaces. I don’t know but I think the one in Kano is about 160 bed spaces. So, we are building 250 bed capacities and the work is about 90 percent completed.We have brought in almost all our equipments, they are all in Katsina and we are working with different groups. I have receiving a delegation from Egypt, some medical institutions that are interested in partnering with us. There is a raging debate between  northern governors and their Southsouth counterparts on review of  revenue formula... My position will not be different being a lawyer who knows the constitution and the law. Revenue formula is a constitutional issue and in a democracy, everybody has a right to express his view. But the expression of that view should be made in such a manner that an understanding and appreciation of the concern of others should be taken into consideration in a way that our constitution is not fundamentally breached. Therefore, I believe this is a healthy debate, it’s a healthy argument. So people should not blame one section or the other for expressing their opinion. Let us be fair enough to sit down and do what is right for the people. The Revenue Formula in itself is packaged in such a manner that it ensures fairness and equity to all Nigerians. So, my take on this is that, what ever the outcome of this debate or discussions, fairness and equity to all Nigerians should be the parameter.

 



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