Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Jonathan Vatsa, speaks with ADELOWO OLADIPO, on the politics of the state and some of the ongoing projects being undertaken by the government.
SOME people are of the opinion that the rejection of Minna airport as the alternative to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, currently undergoing repair could be as a result of the deplorable condition of Suleja- Minna road. Is that correct?
Well, to a certain extent they may be right, because if not because of the deplorable condition of Suleja – Minna road, we could have enjoyed the opportunity of using Minna airport as an alternative airport to Abuja instead of the Federal government’s choice of Kaduna airport and probably the opportunity would not have eluded us during the renovation exercise . Even now, we are still thinking about the missed opportunity because the immediate past administration made a local arrangement; Overland Airline was flying to Minna airport from their base in Ibadan airport in Oyo state.
The incumbent Niger State government is still hoping that if any local airline feels like using Minna airport, we would go into agreement with them, because what the state government is thinking about now is how to make life easy for our people and we have so many opportunities in the state. Apart from Suleja – Minna road and the airport we are talking about, the Federal Government desires to link Niger State to Abuja with the rail system and by doing that, they are automatically linking the southwestern part of the country with the facility because from Minna, the state capital, one will just go to Jebba and when one gets to Jebba, one already knows one is in the southern part of the country.
And from here in Minna, you can head for Kaduna and Niger is North-Central. May be that was why during the British colonial era, the Late Governor General , Sir Frederick Lord Lugard found it much easier to operate from Niger: between northern and southern Nigeria . We have everything in Zungeru, the present headquarters of Wushishi local government of the state. Zungeru was his headquarters then; it was much easy for him to operate and if you look at Niger State today, you will discover that it is the gateway between the north and south. And if you are linking Niger by rail to Abuja, it will make business easier for people from the south to come and do business here.
So, the issue of rail system between Minna and Abuja is very important to the growth and development of the Federal Capital Territory. And again, people find it much easier to come to Suleja to stay . About 95 per cent of both the middle level and low level income earners that are working in Abuja live in Suleja. That is to tell you how close Niger state is to Abuja. We are calling on the Federal Government and Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to please hasten the work on Suleja- Minna road.
But the contractors handling the job are working at the site or are you not satisfied with the pace of the work?
Although the contractors handling the construction work are seeing doing their work, they are very slow. We are in the dry season; whatever the contractors can do now to hasten the work would be appreciated . They should, therefore, please do it fast before the rain sets in so that our people will find it easier to travel on the road. In addition to that, His Excellency, The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, is trying his best concerning the road, but this is a job that is above the state. And after the completion of the road, we want the federal government to come out with a policy that any truck driver carrying a load or goods above the normal weight should not be allowed to pass through our roads.That is why it is very important to go back to the issue of the rail. If you can recall, the last time we went to Tegina in Rafi local government of the state, when a fuel laden truck fell within residential area, the spillage from the tanker led to a huge fire outbreak that killed several people and razed many residential and commercial buildings. In those days, the rail system was very good and efficient. Petroleum products were transported by rail. If you travel out of the country also, to other parts of the world , the rail system is very efficient. In the advanced countries of the world, most people preferred to go by rail. Therefore, if Abuja is linked to the rail system, particularly the fast trains, in less than 45 minutes you are in Abuja if you take off from Minna. And you can use the rail system to decongest the city. Where there is a very good transport system, people may chose to stay in Minna and every day travel to Abuja and return by rail to their families.
The issues of epileptic water and electricity have led to protests. What will the government do?
Concerning the issue of inadequate water supply, the state government is doing its best to supply Nigerlites with potable water in parts of the state not just in Minna, the state capital alone. Since we came on board, we have made concrete efforts to solve some of these problems. But just like the issues of Niger State radio and television stations’ new equipment, most of these equipment are not produced in Nigeria and they are not easily available in the country to procure. In the past most of the equipment in the water sector or ministry of water resources were being refurbished by the successive administrations in the state .
And most of the equipment when you place orders for them, the contractors or the factories will give you at least six months duration to bring it into the country, if you want a good job to be done for you after which the factory will go into production. And by the grace of God, if our people can be very patient, the issue of inadequate water supply will definitely become a thing of the part. His Excellency, Governor Bello has said that he is solving the problem of inadequate water supply in parts of the state once and for all in Niger State and not only in Minna.
Don’t you think this administration is distracting itself by introducing branded vehicles with the photographs of the Governor Bello, saying he has been endorsed to contest for second term at a period when hunger and starvation is ravaging the electorate?
Let me tell you this, you see Governor Bello is trying his best and he has been working very hard to do the best he can for the people of the state. Since the creation of the state, things that had never happened are happening now, like the revamping or renovation about to take place at both the state radio and television stations; construction of an office complex for members of the state House of Assembly and there are roads in Niger State that were touched last during the Military era. If you ply those roads today all those road have been tarred with asphalt. Some of these roads are within Minna metropols like Ibo road and Lagos street. There is another road by Brighter Schools and Mypa School. Go there if they are not there come back and tell me, “Commissioner, you have lied”. Those roads were constructed during the military administration of David Mark, now former Senate president. If you follow those roads, you can drive with your eyes closed . Similarly, if you follow the road to the Federal Government College at Tunga Goro, through Tagwai farms, the roads are there; we are working on them. I want to tell you in the education sector , the Whole School approach, which is the total renovation of the schools, like the science laboratories, hostels, staff rooms, among others, in almost all the public secondary schools in the three senatorial zones of the state like in Izom, the Government Girls Secondary School, Bida, Justice Legbo Kutigi Secondary school and Mariam Babangida Girls Secondary is going on. Every contract has a life span . And by the time the contractors finished their jobs, they would hand over these projects to the state government. Government is trying his best in the education sector because education is the bedrock of any civilization. Give the people education, they can choose between the right and the wrong .
But concerning the branded vehicles that you rightly talked about, the governor did not know anything about it and I can assure you of that.
But they are the handiwork of politicians. There are people who want him to know they are there for him. He has been telling people that he still has some works to do, because he believes he still has a long way to go. Despite that, they [politicians] are still going ahead to do what they are doing. So, what I am trying to tell you in essence is that there is a culture in Nigeria, three years , four years , the next one year is campaign period. But I can assure you today that if you see what is happening in Niger State, Governor Bello has added value to Niger State and to its citizens.
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