After years of lack, some Plateau State communities relish basic necessities, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU
They were once united in lack and grief. Farmers who prided themselves on being the largest producers of vegetables and uncommon fruits found themselves harvesting less and less and even losing much of what they produced due to lack of storage facilities. In some communities water was a mirage. In some, lack of electricity spanning over a decade was the headache. Yet, that was not all. Public firms which once provided jobs for teeming youths, disappeared, leaving the communities with unengaged, disenchanted youths and soaring crime rates.
Thankfully, change has come in Plateau State. In three local government areas, Shendam, Pankshin and Bokkos, disused water treatment plants have been repaired and are pumping again. In Jos, the state capital, and the adjoining Bukuru, old and rusted water pipes have been removed and replaced.
“We just saw drilling machines all over the areas drilling boreholes in villages that are having acute water problems,” said Dung Dalyop, a resident of Riyom. “In my own village Makera, more than 10 boreholes have been drilled; you can imagine the joy of the people.”
One housewife said, “Since my 25 years as housewife, this is the first time that I have water in less than 100 meters to my house, so anytime I return from farm or market, I will just reach out to the closest borehole to me and fetch water the way I like; it is more than a relief, this government is God-sent, God has answered our prayers.”
Panyam Fish Farm owned by the state government, once filled the people with joy and hope, and then despair. The firm which employed many residents and flooded the state with fish, went under, but now it has been revived, complete with an MoU signed with a private firm, SOLBEC Ltd. Such is the revival that the state Commissioner of Information Mallam Muhammed Nazif is upbeat, saying that this year, the farm managers are looking at flooding Nigerian markets with fish.
Nazif shed more light on the new developments. “Midway into the mandate of four years they unanimously gave Governor Simon Bako Lalong, the people have begun to take stock of how much change the governor Lalong administration has been able to bring to them especially those promised them during the electioneering.
“For instance, we know that 80% of our people are farmers and there is need for government to provide them fertilizer to enhance the volume of harvest to feed the entire population, so government procured and distributed 777 trucks (over 400,000 bags) of fertilizer to farmers at subsidised rates during the 2016 cropping season. Government also purchased and distributed improved seedlings of tomatoes and Irish potatoes to farmers at subsidised rates. We also realised that Plateau is the largest producer of vegetables and exotic fruits, all we needed to do was to add value to the product for the farmer to derive maximum value from their products, so the state government signed an MoU with a company, Greenlands Integrated Agribusiness Limited, for the setting-up of storage facilities, fruits and vegetable storage, milk packaging plant and dairy/pig, swine genetic centre, poultry processing plant, and Integrated (wind and solar power) Generation Plant.”
Nazif said a total of 340 boreholes have been sunk in Riyom and Shendam local governments, some being drilled, but most of them completed and the benefiting communities are already enjoying the water. This particular water project, the commissioner said, is being carried out with the support of EU-UNICEF Project through the Plateau Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency.
In such communities as Miango, Datti-Zawan, Kung-Bwana, Du, Karon-Foron, residents said the Lalong administration is the only one that has listened to them, understood their needs and has solved one major one: electricity.
Mr. Bulus Demshi of Datti-Zawan community in Jos South Local Government Area said, “The last administration failed to solve our electricity problem for eight good years, we have been in darkness for close to 15 years, but this government of change has come to our rescue, they said they are a rescue administration, and they have proved that by rescuing us from total darkness, we are now being counted among communities that enjoy electricity, our entire lives have been transformed”.
Similarly, residents of Karon-Foron are saying they are planning a thank you visit to Government House Jos to show their appreciation to the governor for restoring their long-expected electricity.
“We have resolved to remain loyal to this government and we will continue to pray for it to succeed better that any other government before it,” said Baba Gyang.
Commissioner Nazif said, “Government has already signed an MoU with William Duncan Hydroelectric for 32 MW hydro power project in Kwall, Bassa LGA, this is still the projects of the out-gone year, we have planned to do more in terms of rural projects in the 2017 budget, by the time the 2017 appropriation is approved by the state house of assembly, government is going to move into the rural areas because that is where most of our people reside.”
The shelter programme has also made an impact. The government has already begun the process for building 22,500 housing units under a Public Private Sector scheme.
Civil servants are already dreaming big on this project.
“Can’t wait to own my own house at the age of 30, I don’t even dream of buying a piece of land based on the present economic situation, but it is clear to me that some of us will own a house under this scheme, we are already praying for government to succeed on this plan. I’m even very confident it will succeed because the project is going to be handled by developers, not government, so I believe it will not be abandoned project like every other government project,” said a civil servant who pleaded anonymity.
Nazif said, “The plan of this administration in the area of shelter for its citizens is more than what people are talking about. Apart from the initial 22,500 houses, government has already signed an MoU with another private firm for the construction of another 7,500 housing units are to be built across the three senatorial zones with 4500 in the northern zone and 1500 each in the central and southern zones.”
The jobs plan is catching on, too. One beneficiary, Jeremiah Dadu said, “Since the last seven years that I graduated, I have gone to three states for a job apart from Abuja, it was like I’m unemployable because I was not considered good for any job, but now my own state is going to create jobs and I have being considered suitable. Even though I have not been given the job, I have high hopes that my job is near.”
