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Niger gov to raise N1trn for infrastructure development

Basking on the accolades that greeted his performance in his first year in office, Governor Muhammed Umaru Bago of Niger State has reiterated the decision of his government to raise a trillion dollars from the capital market to fund the completion of critical infrastructure in the state.

The Governor stated this on Wednesday at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna, during a public lecture to mark his one year in office.

Governor Umaru Bago also seized the opportunity to serve a notice to cattle herders in the state that the state government was considering a ban on open grazing in the state.

He stated further that the state is playing catch-up to others in terms of infrastructural development with a view to fast-tracking the development of the state, stressing that the state was putting together the needed paperwork to approach the capital market for the N1 trillion fund for the completion of the ongoing projects and the commencement of new ones in parts of the state.

He assured the audience at the gathering that his administration would redouble its efforts by next year (2025) to fast-track the delivery of the desired dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

“We are going to redouble our efforts in our second year; we want to work 36 hours a day. If people think we are doing anything, let them wait until the second year,” said the Governor

According to him, the administration is determined to ensure that the infrastructural gap in the state is closed with the inflow of funds from the capital market to finance critical sectors.

Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago explained that Niger State is a potentially rich State because of the vast agricultural opportunities that are available in the state, which he described as an agrarian State.

“Everyone in Niger State has prosperity staring at them in the face if they tap into agricultural activities, and there is no reason why someone should be poor here,” he declared.

He stated further that some of the proposed capital market funds, when accessed, would be channelled towards the construction of the Minna-Abuja Railway line with the establishment of a 100,000-person housing estate corridor to enable people to live in Minna and work in Abuja, as it would take just 25 minutes to get to the Federal Capital Territory.

Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago also disclosed that the President of the Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has agreed to establish the biggest rice mill in the state, emphasising that it is going to be a 500,000-capacity metric-tonne factory.

Indirectly firing back at critics of his borrowing without caution, he asked his perceived political opponents not to bother themselves with how he would raise funds but to question how he expends the state’s resources accountably.

“Don’t worry how I get money; after all, I would not spend human beings, but how we spend the resources

“What we are providing in terms of infrastructure is their right, not a right or privilege; our administration will do unprecedented things starting next year,” the governor maintained.

He, however, assured that the State Internally Generated Revenue (IIGR) is steadily rising from less than N1 Billion monthly to an average of N3 billion, with a projected N10 billion by 2025 and N100 billion by four years.

On the plan to stop open grazing, he disclosed that the essence of the ban, when effected, would assist nomads in improving their income from dairy products and meat processing.

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