Kogi set for greatness —Bello

Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Sunday, assured the people of the state of his determination to make the state the centre of super excellence.

The governor, who spoke through the  Director- General on Media and Publicity, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo, after the New Year service, at the Living Word Zonal Headquarters of The Redeemed Christian Church of God( RCCG),  Ilorin, said the governor was “God-sent to liberate the state from the shackles of underdevelopment, division and oppression”.

A statement made available to the  Nigerian Tribune in Lokoja, said “For many years, Kogi  State was held down by satanic forces that promoted underdevelopment, ethnic chauvinism and blinding corruption. The emergence of Governor Bello is to destroy the cog in the wheels of our progress.

“The governor has started well and will reposition the state with his 2017 Budget of New Direction, which has played up the need to concentrate on capital projects that will catalyse the economy of the state”.

Fanwo urged the people of the state that are resident in Kwara State to invest back home as the government is opening up the economy of the state for competitiveness and opportunities.

He said Kogi  State would become the agricultural capital of Nigeria in the next four years.

“Governor Bello is working with a focus. First, he has been able to ensure a credible payroll system for the civil service. We now know the real civil servants on our payrolls as names of ghost workers and unintended beneficiaries have been removed from the payrolls. This is critical to the public service reforms of the New Direction Agenda.

“Moving forward, right-sizing the civil service is inevitable. We can’t continue to pretend it is the government who should lead our economic renaissance. Modern economies are private sector-driven. Kogi  State cannot be an exception. The government of  Bello will strive to reduce recurrent expenditure to the barest minimum while emphasis will be placed on infrastructural facelift to grow the economy”.

According to him, the civil service reforms agenda would be pursued to “a desired conclusion” in order to “build a state in which the wealth of the people is the wealth of the state”.

He said on its part, government has continued to grow the Internally Generated Revenue( IGR )to reduce the state’s overreliance on federal allocation.

“2017 will no doubt, herald the glory of our dear state. Governor  Bello is out to make a point with the 2017 New Direction Budget. Government will ensure compliance to the public sector rules as they affect budget performance. Ongoing and new projects will be well funded to deliver projects that are the standards of the New Direction.

“We are focusing on our thematic areas to ensure people have instant benefits from our programmes and projects. Poverty must be fought to a standstill with our human and material resources. Kogi  State will be great under the  current administration”.

The Director- General said the staff verification exercise would stand as “a historic achievement that will save billions for the state and help bridge the infrastructural deficit we have been experiencing”, calling on the people of the state at home and in the diaspora to support the  current administration.

“The staff verification exercise will stand as a historic achievement. The success of the exercise was a product of the political will of the governor to have a vibrant and discipline civil service. Today, many road projects are ongoing across the state simultaneously. Some of them will be ready for commissioning soon. Contractors now know it is no longer business as usual as the  current administration abhors corruption.

“Our Zero-Potholes Programme on Lokoja roads have drastically improved traffic. The  current administration helped to cushion the hardship on federal roads across the state through palliative measures. We are hopeful that the Federal Government will provide permanent solution on those roads soon. Today, Lokoja is cleaner because we have a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources that has stirred a revolution in environmental sanitation”