Niger govt disburses N1.6bn for ward development projects across 25 LGAs

Niger State Government has disbursed over N1.6 billion to the 274 wards in the 25 local government areas of the state for the execution of ward development projects.

This is in a bid to take development to the grassroots as part of its Ward Development Programme policy initiated by the State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, two months ago.

Each of the 274 wards initiates projects dear to their communities for execution. Some of the projects executed so far include grading of rural roads, construction of culverts, renovation of schools, mosques and churches, and sinking of boreholes.

Indication to this effect emerged following a disclosure by a member of the Steering Committee and Special Adviser, Political and Strategy to Governor Umaru Bago, Alhaji Mohammed Nma Kolo, in a chat with journalists in Minna, the state capital. He stressed that the “scheme is the best thing that has ever happened to communities in the state because people determine the projects dearest to them for execution.”

He stated further that the government has also set up a steering committee made up of “people of proven integrity” to monitor the execution of the projects to ensure quality jobs, adding that the scheme was conceived by government as a way to “give back to the people that elected the government”, saying that “for the first time in the history of democratic governance in the state, people at the grassroots are directly enjoying the dividends of democracy.

“We are giving back to the people that elected the government; people are benefiting from the dividends of democracy,” he asserted, emphasising that “everybody is happy, people are commending the government for the policy.”

According to Nma Kolo, the execution of the Ward Development Projects is being used to stimulate the economy at the ward level, just as he explained that workers on the project sites are all drawn from the wards, with no one recruited from outside.

On political development in the state, Alhaji Nma Kolo commended members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) for doing what he described as a “wonderful job”, saying they have the love of the state at heart.

“They have the love of their political parties at heart, they have the love of the state at heart; we have been working together to ensure that people get the best out of this government.”

He, however, debunked the claim that some members of the APC have decamped to the ADC, insisting that “it is not yet time for politics, we are focused on governance for now.”

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