Niger State Commissioner for Finance, Lawal Adamu Maikano, explains how the state government is sourcing funds for its urban renewal and rural development projects in this interview with JUSTINA ASISHANA. He also explains why the Governor Umar Bago-led administration has decided to keep mum on its predecessor while highlighting the dreams and ideas of the new government.
WHAT is the nature of the urban development project of Governor Umar Bago?
The state did the first groundbreaking ceremony in its urban renewal projects on the 14th of September 2023 with the Minna township roads. The contractor is CCeCC, and the contract is supposed to be delivered within 30 months. During this period, the contractor will do some urban renewal activities ranging from modernization to dualization of some roads around the metropolis while some internal critical roads would be reworked and modernised. This is in line with the Governor’s agenda for urban renewal. One of his four cardinal points is urban renewal and it has to do with the development of the communities, standardising them to what is obtainable in other climes.
Seeing this commitment, the Governor has demonstrated to be a man of his word and a man of action as he is matching his words with actions by ensuring that all the things he said during his campaigns are done accordingly. It comes with a lot of challenges considering the fact that the funds are not available. But he is thinking outside the box to make funds available, and you can see the amount of mobilization that has happened with the CCECC team.
This shows you that a lot of commitments have been made from the government side. No contractor in the world today would do that kind of mobilization without any commitment from his client. This is one of many to come and they will come on the same force with the possibility of greater force. All the contractors have been mobilized to site. The whole thing is based on what the governor has promised and this would be the line of how we would see the stripes of fulfilment of promises.
What would you say have been the high points of the administration so far?
Majorly, what has happened in the last couple of months is all about leadership, and the governor has promised to develop a fair and equitable Niger State that would be based on equity, justice, good conscience and service delivery to the people of the state irrespective of their political affiliation, tribe or religion. As far as you are living in the state and you are a law-abiding citizen, you are a friend of the government and the government will do everything to protect and provide security for you.
He has been meeting up with his commitments in the past couple of months. This will continue and we have seen a massive improvement in terms of internal security not just within the metropolis but also in the localities. Very soon, we will see a massive reduction of IDPs, people going back to their communities doing their thing as they used to, going back to their normal lives as they used to. These are his key critical campaign promises, and he is going through them one by one to ensure he fulfills them.
As you can see, he has made several commitments and still, we are making some savings. Whatever we get, we don’t blow everything at the same time; we try to save for the rainy day. So financial discipline and inclusiveness has already been into effect and have been implemented, it will continue in this tradition until we get to the point that we are self-sustained, self-sufficient and we are able to take care of our business.
If you look at the rural development project of the governor, you could see a massive directional change whereby he created the Ministry of Rural Development. This is one of a kind. I am not sure there is any state in northern Nigeria that has the ministry. He did this because he intended to give a lot of concentration on rural development and not just urban renewal.
Rural development is one of the key agenda that he set for the government to achieve. There would be a massive inclusiveness of everybody within the system whether in urban or rural areas. The ministry will be key and will have a lot of activities and work going on.
The Governor said that N1 trillion would be spent in the next couple of years for urban development, rural improvement and all. That is massive. We are Nigerlites and some of us have lived in Niger State for a long time, and we can attest to the fact that in the last 10 to 15 years, no government has had this kind of ambitious dream. And the beauty about this is that the ambition is matched with willingness and desire for success. It has started manifesting. The action has been taken and very soon, the people will see the result.
What is the quantum of compensation that would be paid to those whose properties would be affected by this construction exercise?
For compensation, there is a team that is responsible for that. You know, my job in the Ministry of Finance is to do a check on the sources and application of funds. The consultant responsible for all the roads has already taken their statistics and the people whose properties would be affected should rest assured that they would be taken care of adequately. There is a provision for that. We assure the people that if peradventure you have a property that cuts across or falls in the path of urban renewal, you would be taken care of and you would be compensated.
You said that funds have already been made available to the contractors as they have been mobilised. Where is this money coming from? How has revenue generation been in the state for the past three months the administration began? How has the IGR in the state been?
Let me start with the IGR of the state. Over the years, the IGR of the state has grown but on a very slow projection. But in the last couple of years, we have seen a projection ranging between N1.6 billion and N1.8 billion per month. What that means is that we are moving towards N18 billion to N19 billion per annum. But the drive going forward, based on the strategies being put in place, is that we are looking at an average of N120 billion in the coming year. It is a long tall dream and we will do whatever it takes to achieve that with the help of the Governor.
The Governor has given the Chairman of the state’s Board of Internal Revenue the go-ahead to do the right and needful thing to ensure that those targets are achieved. So that is one aspect of our financing.
The other one is that we have credit lines with banks. We have very positive relationships with banks and banks are falling over themselves to offer us their facility so that we can conclude on the constructions that we are embarking on. There are a lot of banks that are lined up and we are choosing. You know why thst is so? It is because they have seen the government’s commitment; they have seen a reason why they want to do business with us.
We have like seven or eight banks reaching out to us and all of them want to give us facilities, and we are choosing. So there are other revenue aspects that we are looking at, but those are not jokers that we are ready to throw to the public now.
Again, the FAAC (federal allocation) is there which is coming regularly, and we will make sure that it is utilised judiciously for the development of our state and for the goodwill of our people. We will dish out the jokers as we progress in our activities.
One thing is for sure: there is funding and people are falling over us. For example, the Islamic Development Bank were here, and we want to use that facility to bring back to life the Minna-Bida Road that has been abandoned for some time. The work will be finished soon.
How much has the state government released so far for mobilisation?
The normal mobilization for contractors is 15 per cent, but the governor wants to see how he can galvanise these people to show his seriousness. He will work within the procurement law, and whatever the procurement law has provided to be given, the contractors will be given. Whatever we are going to do, we are going to do it within the ambit and provision of the law. If they do their work the way they need to, we will release the funds as confirmation or certification is being done on the job they do.
What are the state government’s plans for the Gurara Falls, Zuma Rock and other tourist centres with a view to generating revenue?
We have a vibrant Ministry of Tourism, and one of the key aspects of urban renewal is modern parks and recreational parks. Gurara Falls and other recreational facilities in the state will be rejuvenated and will be put to useful action within the shortest possible time. That place can actually generate revenue for us. That axis of Tafa Local Government Area, we believe that when necessary and proper actions are taken, we can generate N1 billion in tax from the Zuba to Tafa axis.
Abuja is getting saturated and people are looking for a gateway, and once those places have been developed by putting all these recreational and modern parks there, that is where people will want to go, and it would generate huge revenue for us. That is one critical aspect that this government is focusing on. In no distance time you will see positive things happening around there. It will create job opportunities for a lot of people, cutting across all the cadre.
There are certain deliberate activities that would happen which would improve the standard of living of the people by providing them with jobs.
Before the end of the last administration, the imprest given to MDAs was not as forthcoming as it should. What is being done to ensure that imprest given to these MDAs do not suffer the same fate?
I don’t want to talk about past administration. We have drawn a line, and we want that after the tenure of Bago, let the masses use that to do their judgement. What we are focusing on is what we need to do for the betterment of the people living in Niger State. Imprest is a function of availability. You cannot give in the midst of none. When you have, you will give, but you can’t produce when you don’t have.
The ministries and those within the ministries know and understand that there are certain times when exigencies could occur and you can’t get what you are expecting to get. We pray that that won’t be our position. We will always as a matter of fact be able to provide for the people of the state and for the civil servants.
One part of the governor’s agenda is good governance, and good governance is circled around civil service. You have to get an effective, efficient and motivated civil service. If you don’t have one, you have nobody to run your administration and policies.
There are going to be improvements. The governor is working around the clock to ensure that the state is moving and working. He is trying to meet up with the expectations of the people, which is why most of us who are his commissioners want to see that he succeeds and we are putting in our best to ensure that he succeeds.
His success is our success. We will be judged by what happens to his actions and pronouncements. So we will make sure he succeeds,. Whatever it takes, we will do it. We will keep improving.
What is the amount of liabilities that this government inherited and what is the strategic action plan to key in the new credit worthiness into it?
Past administration is past administration. One thing is for sure, yesterday made the foundation of today, and the good work of today will give us a better tomorrow. We are so much aware of that and we don’t want to dwell on the past. I am telling you, most of the debts that we inherit have been paid. Last month, when we looked at the cash flow and the cash arrangement, the governor directed that we settle all the debts so that the state will have freedom. The governor is not ready to carry those liabilities. We can only do the best we can do at the time we are doing it.
The last administration, that was the best they could do. Are there challenges? Yes. Can that thing be done otherwise? Yes. Can they be held accountable for it? Yes. Must we talk about it? It is our choice, and if we dwell on it, we won’t be able to provide all these beautiful things that we are doing now.
Most of the things the governor promised in his manifesto have started materialising. So when someone has a dream as tall as the governor, tall, heavy ambitions, do you want him to dwell on the past? We will improve our lots and do our best to make sure that our children yet unborn will have positive stories to tell about us and the governor.
There are very lofty ideas, beautiful ideas that the governor has that can only be achieved with commitment. Forget about the past administration. They did the best they could do within the time they could do it, but we cannot dwell on it. Maybe when we are ready to talk about it, we will talk about it. But for now, only the people’s needs are ahead of us. And what will they benefit under the administration? That is the key.
So ask me questions about what we are doing and not the past administration. I don’t know because I was not part of it. The good thing is that we inherited it and we are gradually sorting it out, which is the normal thing to do.
