Niger State Governor,Mohammed Umar Bago has said that his administration will carry out developmental projects that will stand the taste of time.
The Governor stated this when he received the report of the Niger State Development Forum, presented by its Chairman and Former Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada at the Niger State Lodge, Abuja.
The Governor explained that the expectations of residents are much and that his administration will do its best to surpass the expectations.
According to him, “We shouldn’t be interested in the euphoria of the first 100 days. Our limit should not be in the next 100 days. We don’t want to do window dressing, we want to do groundbreaking projects that will last for a long time “.
He appreciated the forum for its insights in coming up with such a developmental document and promised to support them as well as work with most of the recommendations.
Governor Umar Bago also enjoined them to continue to avail themselves for government to tap from their wealth of experience for the growth and development of the state in all ramifications.
He said, there are lots to achieve in the state and “we don’t have a second state aside Niger, such, we have to make it work”.
The Governor charged them not to hesitate in bringing to his knowledge any opportunity that will help in transforming the state.
Governor Umar Bago who said he considers himself lucky to receive such a document gave them the conference room of the lodge as their temporary secretariat.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Forum, Amb. Zubairu Dada explained that the Forum is an apolitical group of individuals from different fields of engagement, that came together with the sole aim of contributing their quota towards the development of the State despite their political differences.
“We decided to come together to rub minds as citizens of Niger state irrespective of our political leanings. Our main concern is Niger State, and how to contribute to the development of the state”, he further explained.
He observed that the state is blessed with many human resources that if properly harnessed would engender rapid development and improve the quality of lives of Nigerlites.
The Former Minister of State highlighted six areas of interventions upon which their report centred; Agriculture and Rural Development, Extracting Industries, Financial and Revenue Generation, Human Capital Development, Infrastructure and Security.
He said the issues in the report were not exhaustive but expressed optimism that the document would be helpful to the administration.
“We don’t pretend to have answers to all the issues, we just felt that we should make these humble suggestions and recommendations with the hope that you will find them useful to complement your blueprint”, he said.
The Chairman said the Forum had met with the immediate past Governor of the state, Abubakar Sani Bello on their intentions to come up with such documents and he gave them the go-ahead but couldn’t present the report before his exit.
