Jigawa to drive economic diversification with agric development

Governor Muhammed Badaru of Jigawa State has restates the commitment of his administration on prudence and diversification of the state economy through agriculture.

Badaru said his being meticulous about the state’s finance was done in good faith and to ensure judicial application of the scarce resources, at an interactive session with permanent secretaries, directors and deputy directors of the state civil service held at Ahmadu Bello Hall in Dutse.

Badaru, who decried the low revenue from the federation account, said the only solution to this challenge was diversification of the economy and to boost the state’s internally generated revenue.

The governor, who took time to explain the dangers on relying on oil revenue, said the new direction was on renewable energy and agriculture, which Jigawa State had in abundance.

He pointed out that despite low allocation from the federation account as a result of crash in oil price at the global market, his administration was able to implement 45 percent capital provision of the state’s 2016 budget.

The governor therefore explained that his administration policies would boost and harness the abundance agriculture potentials of the state, noting that already the policies on agriculture had started yielding results as Dangote and Lee Group were investing in rice and sugarcane production.

He however expressed his disappointment over the attitude of some politicians who were bent on inciting people against the government, insisting that the sugarcane project was for the overall benefit of the people and the state in general.

While speaking on the staff biometric and attendance registrar introduced by his administration, he said it was not meant to witch-hunt anybody; instead, it was intended to checkmate absenteeism and weed out ghost workers from the state’s payroll.

He also assured the civil servant of continuous training as well as prompt payment of salaries and other entitlements, and thanked them for their dedication and selfless services.

Earlier in his welcome address, the state head of service, Inuwa Tahir, said the interactive session was a quarterly meeting with the aim of providing platform for the civil servants to discuss burning issues affecting the state.

Also speaking, the state’s chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Usman Ya’u, commended the state government for prompt payment of salaries and leave grants.

He however requested the government to hasten the take-off of the HND conversion training signed with some Nigerian universities.