The Nation Newspaper

Tag: jobs

  • ‘I’ll create 3000 jobs in six months’

    A council chairmanship aspirant in Edo State, Mr Roberts Akande, has pledged to harness the resources in the council to generate 3,000 jobs in his first six months in office, if elected.
    Ako-Edo Local Government Area, which Akande wants to administer, is one most endowed with mineral resources, although they remain largely untapped. Besides, the people are also blessed with a vast fertile land that also remains largely uncultivated.
    Akande, currently Senior Legislative Aide to Hon. Peter Akpatason, pledged to declare emergency on employment, a major concern in the area, should he win the election. He said he has already mapped out plans to generate employment for 3,000 people in his first six months in office.
    Speaking with Our Abuja correspondent on his political ambition, Roberts said: “Since the number of those unemployed in Ako-Edo today is embarrassing, we have to take a deliberate action to address this issue. And I already have the plan for this that if I am given the mandate by Akoko-Edo people in the first six months, our government will declare a state of emergency in the area of employment. We should be able to create a minimum of 3,000 jobs within the first six months.”
    Continuing, he noted that in view of the proximity of the local government area to different tertiaries institutions such as Federal University of Technology, Akure,  Auchincloss Polytechnic, Auchi, and the plans to establish a mining institute in Akoko- Edo, if he gets the mandate, his administration pave ways for the  youths to acquire mining skills in the institutes. According to him, if he gets his people’s mandate, his administration will take advantage of inter-governmental relation with both states and Federal Government to accomplish this dream.
    He said: “Like I said earlier, our government is going to partner with a lot of institutions. We are going to take advantage of the principle of inter-governmental relation by relating with both the state and federal governments in this area. My principal Comrade Peter Akpatason has even taken a step in this direction and we a going to compliment his effort. Now, he is working on a proposal at the highest level to bring the School of Geological Studies and Mining to Akoko-Edo in order to provide easy skill acquisition for people operating the mining sector of the local government. We are lucky that we have a technical school, Igarra Technical College in Akoko-Edo.  The Auchi Polytechnic is very close to us. The Federal University of Technology, Akure is very close to Akoko-Edo. Therefore, we are going to partner with these institutions in the area of training and retraining of the people in this sector to create an environmentally friendly situation for investment and generation of enough revenue for the government. “
    On revenue generation, the aspirant, said should he win, his administration would not rely solely on allocation from the Federation Account that is never sufficient. Thus,  he and his cabinet would exploit the resource to generate revenue internally for the optimum benefit of the people.
    Before unfolding his rescue mission plans for his people he lamented that there is nothing to show for the over a decade People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wasted in Akoko-Edo.
    He said “The PDP government in Edo State as far as I am concerned wasted about ten years.  They could not bring changes and they could not bring the dividends of democracy to the people. In my local government, for example, throughout the period the party  was in power, it was only one project the party executed . And it was the Somorika Electricity despite the laudable ideas the party had on papers,” said Roberts.
    The politician however opened up on why he considers himself the most suitable candidate for the most exulted position in the council as he said he is not learning the rope as far as Akoko-Edo politics is concerned.

    He added that besides his impressive academic qualification and other working experiences, he his highly experienced due to his tutelage under great politicians in the area.
    Hear him: “First, I am a native of Ogugu,in Akoko- Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. I have a first degree in Political Science from University of Ilorin and a Masters Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from University of Lagos. Presently, I am a Senior Legislative Aide to Hon Peter Akpatason, a member representing Akoko- Edo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, National Assembly.  Yes! I have had enough political tutelage that has prepared me for this onerous task of arresting this socio-economic dislocation and frustration of Akoko-Edo people.
    Between 2003 and 2005, I was a Political Assitant to Hon. Paul Fashanu Udofi, the then Commissioner for Finance and Solid Minerals during the administration of Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State. In 2005, I became an Electoral Commissioner to the Edo State Electoral Commission. Like I said earlier, I am a legislative aide to Hon. Peter Akpatason.  Also, back to my Local Government, I am a leader in ward seven and my political tentacles are  spread round all the ten wards in Akoko-Edo.”

    Continuing, he recounted how his party rode to victory  at the pools ,stressing that he is a heavyweight politician in his area. He  said  “Yes. Without sounding proud, I believe that my electoral value is very high in Akoko-Edo. I know that my supporters and I command votes in Akoko-Edo. No politician in my unit will underrate my electoral value in Akoko-Edo .They know me.  Incidentally, I am from the same ward with the former House Leader, of the National Assembly, Hon. tunde Akogun and we were able to defeat him in almost every election in Akoko-Edo by giving our support to Peter Akpatason. During the last election we won my unit, so the people all know that my electoral value is very high. And I believe they will vote me to deliver the dividends of democracy to them.”
    Robert said he is a core member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  and even if the party denies him the ticket he will remain in the party.
    “I am a core party member. I am an ACN man. If the party denies me ticket I will remain  a member of this party. It is a party that is developmentally oriented . It is  a party I love so much so that will not change my membership of ACN because it is not a do or die affair,” he said.

  • Kano warns contractors against shoddy jobs

    Governor Kwankwaso

    kano State Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Surveyor Muhammadu Nadu Yahaya has warned that the state government may sanction any contractor involved in the execution of shoddy jobs.

    Yahaya, who gave the warning in Kano during his one-day inspection and monitoring tour of road projects in the state, said the expansion and dualisation of road networks in the state have recorded 45 per cent progress, particularly the N3 billion Gwarzo/ Kofar Kabuga/BUK new site road, over which he expressed satisfaction.

    Yahaya was greeted with complaints from the contractors at different points, ranging from the torrential rain to non-removal of electric poles, underground doctile pipes and heavy traffic, which has taken its toll on the pace of work.
    He, however, promised to redouble his efforts to ensure speedy completion of the project when the rains subside.

    The contractor handling the expansion and dualisation of Sheik Jafar Mahmud Adam Road (fomerly Chalawa road) told the inspection team that his greatest challenge remains the underground doctile pipe on both sides of the road which hinders the progress of work.

    Apart from the heavy traffic on the road, the contractor also told the commissioner that the road design was altered several times, resulting in the slow pace of work on the project.

    He, however, promised to work harder particularly now that he has received a final redesign of the project.
    At the Hadejia road( Murtala Mohammed Way/Ahmadu Bello Way roundabout), the commissioner expressed satisfaction with the quality and pace of work but urged the contractor to redouble his efforts to ensure that he meets the completion deadline.

    The team, however, expressed dismay at the slow pace of work on Zaria Road and urged them brace up with the challenges, so as to complete the project on schedule.
    The tour also took the Commissioner to the Southern Terminus project site at Gundutse, at the end of which he expressed satisfaction with the pace of work .

    However at the Upgrading/Dualization of Independence Road project, which is been handled by SDY Engineering, the Commissioner frowned at the disruption of traffic and charged the Contractor to open up some part of the road to ensure flow of traffic, instead of complete blockage of the road.

    At the end of the inspection tour, Nadu urged the Contractor to redouble his efforts, so as to complete the project on schedule and reduce the untold hardship motorists plying the route are currently experiencing.