The People's Questions, Obasanjo's Answers
By Sam Adzegeh
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
President Olusegun Obasanjo ends three-day working tour of Sokoto State where he had to explain the rationale behind government policies
President Olusegun Obasanjo ended a three- day working visit to Sokoto State Tuesday, November 22 where he commissioned more than ten projects across the state.
The President, whose visit to the state was the fifth since assuming office in 1999, arrived Sokoto on the evening of Sunday, November 20 and plunged straight into a flurry of activities. After paying a courtesy call on Mohammed Maccido, the Sultan of Sokoto, President Obasanjo flagged off the fly-over project at the polytechnic round-about in the state capital.
This marked the beginning of a whirlwind tour of at least five far-flung local governments in the state. By the end of Monday, the second day of the visit, the President had commissioned the Tambuwal-Kebbe roads as well as the Kebbe electrification project. The president also inspected on-going work at the Shagari-Kambama-Tureta road.
Other projects commissioned include the Sokoto- Goronyo road which was constructed by the federal government, the Bafarawa Government Technical College, the Take-Tsaba road and the Yar-Rimawa road also constructed by the federal government.
Also commissioned were the Falaliya irrigation scheme and the Katsina Bridge. Before his departure, President Obasanjo inspected the Goronyo Dam site, the Government Secondary School, Isa, as well as Marnono-Isa Road.
While assessing the quality of work at the various sites, the President commended the contractors for doing a good job. He singled out the state polytechnic in Sokoto which he also commended for special praise, disclosing that the quality of equipment at the school remains the best he has seen in the country.
He said he would delegate staff of the Federal Ministry of Education to the state before the end of this year to rub minds with stakeholders in the state so as to achieve the millennium goals in the education sector, with special focus on women education.
At an interactive session with a select audience of women groups, traders and other professional bodies Tuesday morning, the President had the opportunity to listen first hand to the peoples problems. Tukur Balarabe, president of the Sokoto State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, complained about the poor state of the Sokoto-Illela road which links the state to Niger Republic, noting that the road, if completed, would boost the state's socio-economic status.
Joy Ekennaya, chairman of the state's Christian Women's Organisation's wanted to know the fate of the charity programmes started by late Stella Obasanjo to assist widows, handicapped children as well as the less privileged.
Bello Jibrin Gada, a former Senator and state chairman of the All Framers Association appealed to the president to lobby the national assembly to increase budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector to at least 15 percent.
Aisha Nana, chairman of the state's widows association, appealed to the President to ensure that children of widows were given federal government scholarships into federal institutions. Nana said while scholarships were available at state level, it was almost impossible to access the facility at the federal government level.
Muazu Maigarri, chairman of the state's Garri Sellers Association, appealed to the federal government to assist farmers in the state to step up the production of cassava.
On his part, Abubakar Ahmad, state chairman of Miyetti Allah, the cattle rearers association wanted to know what the federal government was doing to forestall frequent violent clashes between nomadic cattle rearers and farmers all over the country.
President Obasanjo in his response, promised that contract for the Sokoto- Illela road would soon be awarded, even as the Sokoto-Talata Mafara project was continuing. He also promised that the legacies of Stella, his late wife, will not only continue, but will be enhanced to benefit even to cover a wider scope.
On agriculture, the President promised that government will step up efforts to ensure that the new momentum is sustained. He expressed joy at the fact that the new impetus, especially on cassava production, was already paying dividends. He explained that the country was already self sufficient in poultry production, with products being exported to Ghana and other African countries. He disclosed that similar gains have been made in cassava production, with the crop being exported to China, Netherlands and other European countries.
The president said he has always held the opinion that Nomadic Fulanis would prefer to settle at a particular place, given the right conditions. He said it was in this respect that the federal government was making concerted efforts alongside state and local governments to establish grazing areas across the country. Appealing for cooperation in this regard, he said such settlements were the surest way to check clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
While briefing the President on developments in the state, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, the state governor, said the State government has realised more than ninety billion naira from both the federation account and local sources since the inception of his administration in 1999.
Bafarawa disclosed that N86 billion has so far been spent on capital development projects, personnel and other overhead costs as well as subventions to parastatals. The governor said the state still has a balance of over four billion naira in its account in spite of worthy achievements in several areas.
For instance, he said, government has expended over 10 billion naira on rural electri-fication in which 138 towns were connected in the state's 23 local govern-ments. Four local governments were also connected to the national grid, leaving four others which the governor promised will soon be done.
Bafarawa also said the state has spent over two billion naira on the provision of potable water while a target of one thousand boreholes was set to be achieved before 2007. He disclosed that so far more than two hundred of these boreholes have been completed and commissioned, and assured that the targeted figure will be met before 2007.
In the health sector, Bafarawa said the state has also performed creditably. Apart from rehabilitation of several hospitals and construction of health institutions, the governor disclosed that the state government had sponsored fifty of its indigenes to study medicine in Bulgaria.
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