INVESTING IN AGRICULTURE

TEXT OF THE YEAR 2000 BUDGET SPEECH DELIVERED TO THE NASARAWA STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF NASARAWA STATE, ALHAJI ABDULLAHI ADAMU ON DECEMBER 17, 1999.

I welcome you all to the formal presentation of the budget of the government of Nasarawa State for the year 2000 AD. We call it the Budget of Rebirth. We chose the title of this budget advisedly. Our country was reborn as a democratic nation on May 29 this year. Its government and institutions at all levels are being revamped and revitalised to serve the peculiar needs of democracy. Nasarawa State as a component of this great nation, cannot but be affected by the nation’s mood to put the past behind it and move on to the next century. Early this month, we launched the state campaign for national rebirth as part of this process of rebuilding the nation. This budget will be the fruition of our rebirth as a state.

But before we go on, permit me to place on record our gratitude for the co-operation and understanding the executive has enjoyed from the legislature. We are proud of this cordial relationship between the two vital arms of government. It demonstrates our maturity. Perhaps, more importantly, it shows in very clear terms that both arms of the state government are committed to a good, responsible and responsive governance and to the upliftment of our people. Incessant crises in the executive and the legislative arms of the governments of other states in the federation and the total absence of same here, tell us how wisely the people of this state made their choice of their representatives at the polls. We are more than lucky. We are blessed with mature and patriotic men and women. We thank God.

As we have had occasion to point out, we were elected by the people to serve them. In everything we do, we must never lose sight of the fundamental principle of democracy, and that is an election represents the people’s investment in their representatives. The people expect something in return for the privilege it has pleased them to give us at the highest level of government. Let us remember, therefore, as we take our state to the next century and the beginning of the new millennium, that the present and the future of our state are in our hands. Let us remember that at the end of the day, we must individually and collectively account for our actions and deeds. It is my sincere prayer that our honesty and integrity will be eloquent witnesses to our service in the executive and the legislative arms of the government of Nasarawa Sate. Mr. Speaker, honourable members, we salute you.

Mr. Speaker, distinguished and honourable members of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, before I delve into the broad details of our budget, permit me to say a few words that I hope will put in proper perspective, what the Budget of Rebirth is all about. Our budget proposal has been carefully tailored to perform two vital functions for our state and its people. It will mark a watershed in our social contract with the people. Its faithful implementation will help to lift our state and its people to new heights of social and economic progress and development in the new millennium.

We are not before this honourable house as part of the ritual of government at this time of the year. We have come with a higher sense of purpose than to merely walk along the well-trodden path of budget rituals. We have come to present the budget of the people by the people for the development of the people. Our Budget of Rebirth encapsulates the aspirations of our administration. Our total budget proposal is certainly lower than the budgets of several other states. But the figures alone do not tell the whole story. When you come to consider the budget, we urge you to look beyond the figures, lean as they may be because, standing behind those figures is our determination to make an eloquent difference in the lives of our people. That determination is not in any way diminished by the fact of our relatively poor financial circumstances. Indeed, the less we have the greater the challenge for resourcefulness.

This budget is unique in at least two important respects. It is the first budget by a democratically-elected government in this state. It is, therefore, not a product of arbitrary decisions and empty promises intended to excite the people. Nor is it a one-man show. On the contrary, the budget is the product of our collective aspirations as a government and as a people.

At the inception of this administration, I urged all of us in the executive and the legislature to dream together with our people and with them, resolve to actualise our dreams. In the same spirit, we have fully involved our people in every process of decision-making. We have accounted for all our actions and decisions so far to the people. We convened a summit at which we fully briefed the people of the state. Indeed, we conceived the summit as a regular forum for a meaningful dialogue between the government and the people. We are gratified by the response and the contributions to the first summit. About two months ago, we also organised an economic summit, which attracted Nigerians from every part of the country. That summit served as an information vista to the investment potentials of the state. We believe that in the near future, the state will begin to reap the fruits of this economic summit.

Secondly, it is the first budget in the new millennium. It is thus a bridge between the past and the future. It carries with it the inevitable baggage of past failures in our social and economic development. And it bears the visions of the new millennium of the government and the people of our beloved state. Our observation here is apposite. A decade or so ago, the federal government promised there would be housing for all by the year 2000. That promised raised fervent hope that all Nigerians would be adequately and decently housed by the turn of the century. You know only too that the promise was not kept. To be fair, we must admit there are opulent houses for the rich. But millions of our people in urban and rural areas alike are still denied basic shelter, not to talk of decent housing. It is hardly a good testimony to effective social engineering that millions of Nigerians are still condemned to live in shacks and huts without the basic social amenities that make life less brutal and more bearable.

We were also promised health for all by the year 2000. Again, the promise was not fulfilled. Diseases still ravage the length and breadth of this country. Health facilities are not within the reach of millions of our people, particularly in the rural areas. The lack of potable water forces millions of Nigerians to depend on unwholesome sources of water supply for their daily domestic and animals. The consequence is widespread communicable water diseases.

These are but two cases of the baggage we must carry into the new millennium. Had these two promises been kept, one third of our problems as a nation would have been tackled. The implication of this is that in Nasarawa State, we are forced to deploy our lean financial resources to fulfill the unfulfilled past promises.

The Budget of Rebirth is an articulation of three aspects of the fundamental philosophy of our administration, which are vision, goals and accomplishments. We anchor the budget on the kind of state all of us want Nasarawa to be. Our vision for the state of our collective dreams infused every aspect of this budget. No single kobo in this budget will go out without accomplishing something for the people. Our goals are realistic, relevant and achievable. It is important to underline the fact that our vision and our goals would come to nothing unless there is a determination on the part of everyone of us in this state, in or outside the administration, to translate our vision of a better state into reality through hard work, honesty, transparency and accountability. Our people look up to us to pull them out of the rut of the unfulfilled promises of the past and set them free on a course of self-actualisation and meaningful development. We cannot afford to disappoint them. If we disappoint them, we disappoint ourselves. And if we disappoint ourselves, we destroy our honour as leaders.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, no matter how carefully a budget is planned and no matter the underpinning philosophy, it remains essentially a statement of intentions because it is still subject to the usual human variables or uncertainties. We may get less money than we have anticipated or provided for. And we may get more money. The variables can pull in either direction. It is important to bear this in mind when this honourable house gets down to the serious business of considering every aspect of the budget.

In the Budget of Rebirth, we expected a total revenue of about N4,123,281,000.00 (Four Billion, One Hundred and Twenty-three Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-one Thousand Naira) out of which N3 billion will be the share of the state from the federation account. Our share of the value-added tax, VAT, will yield about N450 Million. And from our own internally-generated revenue, we expect to collect about N620 Million. We have, therefore, proposed a total expenditure of N4,423,281,000.00 (Four Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-three Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-one Thousand Naira) for the year 2000 AD. This is made up of N1,994,151,000.00 (One Billion, Nine Hundred and Ninety-four Million, One Hundred and Fifty-one Thousand Naira) for recurrent and N2,429,130,000.00 (Two Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-nine Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira) for capital expenditures.

One telling fact of our lopsided national development is that recurrent expenditures continue to exceed capital votes at every level of government in this country. All the governments in the federation spend more money on the payment of personal emoluments and maintaining their infrastructural facilities than on prosecuting new development projects. This has been responsible for the near-stagnation or the abandonment of development projects. We would be saying the obvious in mild words if we say this situation is regrettable.

Ideally, capital votes should exceed recurrent votes. But it is one of the unfortunate legacies all governments in the federation inherited from the past that re-recurrent expenditures always exceeded capital expenditures. In Nasarawa State, this has been the scenario thus far. But in this budget of rebirth, and as we move into the new millennium, we are poised and resolved to reverse this trend. Thus for the first time in the history of this State, we are proposing a budget in which capital expenditure exceeds recurrent expenditure. No responsible government could feel that its job is done merely by reason of its ability to pay monthly salaries and allowances. One notes, of course, that in the recent past, a government’s ability to meet this basic obligation to its employees was hailed as a major achievement each time salaries and allowances were paid.

It is a truism that the size of one’s ambition is often limited by the depth of one’s pocket. This is partly true in our own case. Of course, we would wish we had more so that we can do more. But we are determined to prove that more money does not necessarily translate into greater social and economic development. Were it otherwise, our nation, once awash in petro-dollar, would today present a more acceptable face of development to the rest of the world. Still, the constraints imposed by a shallow pocket must not be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, the cardinal objective of the Budget of Rebirth is poverty alleviation. We intend to achieve this laudable objective through the economic empowerment of our people. This would not be possible without a corresponding investment in all the major sectors of the economy. We have, however, prioritized the sectors in strict keeping with the way they impact on the lives of our people. The underlying wisdom is that this state does not have the necessary financial resources to pursue every aspect of its development at the same time. We believe it would be more helpful to the people if government concentrated its energy and lean resources in developing our social, educational and agricultural sectors in order to open up opportunities for our people to take advantage of.

We have broadly divided our expenditure into the following sectors:

Our sectoral allocations are indicative of our priorities.

In sub-sectoral distribution, education will take the proverbial lion share of the budget. It is by far the largest sub-sector and one that touches on every aspect of the lives of our people. It is hardly necessary for us at this stage of our development to preach the virtues of education because we believe no one in this state needs to be convinced that education is the engine without which modern human progress can be made. This administration inherited educational institutions in various stages of dilapidation. Teachers were owed arrears of salaries and allowances. Their morale, was indeed very low. Our priority in the first one days of this administration was the full payment of salary arrears and allowances of teachers. We followed this up with the renovation of classrooms and the provision of the necessary educational materials and equipment in every part of the state. These actions boosted the morale of our teachers and renewed their energy in the service of their pupils. We have not yet reached the ideal situation but we have sufficiently demonstrated our commitment to qualitative education in the state. This point is worth noting strongly because the quality of education or the lack thereof, makes all the difference between educated and certificated young people. To remedy science education, we have established two science secondary schools in each of the three senatorial districts in the state. Modern, global human development is anchored on science and technology. Our state cannot afford not to be a part of this global event.

Tertiary educational institutions cater for the products of secondary schools. Nasarawa State inherited a number of such institutions from the former Plateau State. These are the College of Education, Akwanga, School of Agriculture in Lafia, College of Arts, Science and Remedial Studies Keffi. To further expand opportunities for higher education for our children, we have set up a technical committee on a state university. Subject to the recommendation of the committee, it is our hope that the university will take off most probably in the 2000/2001 academic year. The committee has been asked to determine the best way to set up the university, that is, either as a single or a multi-campus institution. Furthermore, the necessary groundwork for the establishment of a State Polytechnic during the physical year 2000 is being worked out.

The condition in which we met our secondary schools was so deplorable that they were hardly producing any qualified candidates for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions. We are also resolved to cogently address this situation. Consequently, in the course of year 2000, government will implement the following programmes to shore up the condition of our secondary schools – the supply of science textbooks to students, the massive rehabilitation of dilapidated physical structures, procurement of science equipment for various schools in preparation for the take-off of computer education in the State. In addition to this, we have proposed the establishment of three vocational training centres (one in each senatorial district) in the State. Technical education shall also receive the desired boost. Government Technical College, Assakio, is to be accredited fully, while efforts will be made to establish two additional technical colleges.

In the course of the year, government will give proper attention to the welfare of teachers as well as make adequate provision for the payment of student scholarships.

We would spare this honourable house the recitation of a catalogue of our achievements in the five months of this administration. But it is only fair to mention a few of what we have done before this honourable house. In the area of water supply, we are establishing rural water supply schemes in Masaka, Assakio, Agbada, Agyaragu, Mararaban Loko Wamba and Dedere. Work on these projects are either completed or on-going. Beginning from January 2000, we will commence work to provide water to Tashan Mada, Gadabuke, Udege, Babaji, Arikya, Odu, Onda, Duduguru and Gitata. There is a great deal more to be done in this area.

Our ambition is to ensure that at least every local government headquarters enjoys potable water supply. Our ultimate objective is to make potable water accessible to every community in the state. As the members of this honourable house know only too well, effective water supply requires electricity. The lack of electricity will, obviously, affect whatever ambition one might nurse in this area. But our determination not to be deterred by inadequacies in our social system has offered us an alternative in this regard. We are tapping solar energy for use in our rural water supply system.

In the area of electricity and energy supply, Obi town, Awe and Keana are to be linked to the national grid in the year 2000. Already, technical experts connected with the project have commenced work. With the three Local Government Headquarters joing the national grid, all the Local Government Headquarters in Nasarawa State will have been linked with the national grid.

It is significant that we commissioned the Akwanga General Hospital to mark the first one hundred of days of our administration. The commissioning of that hospital was a triumph of creative thinking, the hallmark of this administration. We have similarly rehabilitated the following hospitals and health centres in the state, that is, the hospitals at Akwanga, Wamba, Keana, Awe, Obi, Nasarawa Eggon, Keffi and Nasarawa. As we pointed out earlier, this country failed to meet its promise of health for all by the year 2000. But we cannot fail to fulfill our own promise to our people in this regard. Every effort is being made to bring health facilities within the reach of the people. On this note we have earmarked substantial amount in the budget to prosecute our health delivery programme in the next physical year.

We have also tackled roads in various parts of the state. In particular, we have rehabilitated the following roads, Loko – Nasarawa, Doma – Agwashi – Rukubi – Akpanaga, Nasarawa–Eggon – Tashan Mada, amongst others. Our state cannot make appreciable progress if most parts of it remain inaccessible to the urban centres. We will work hard to open up rural roads to enhance commercial and social interaction within the state as well as between Nasarawa and other states of the federation. In the new fiscal year, we will construct and/or rehabilitate the following roads; Obi – Keana, Adogi – Arikya; Nasarawa Eggon – Tashan Mada; Sisinbaki – Mama – Kwarra (up to the boarder with Plateau State); Akwanga – Gudi Station – Kokona – Agbada – Udege; Nasarawa – Ara; Gitata – Panda – Gurku – Mararba. These road network cuts across every senatorial district in the state. And in the spirit of cooperative governance, the Federal Government road between Nasarawa and Loko will also be fully rehabilitated pending when the Federal Government is able to take on complete construction of the road.

Our state is the breadbasket of the nation. Yet our peasant farmers live in abject poverty. They do not get true value for their labour. While they work, the middlemen reap all the benefits. We have given a great deal of thought to this and have decided to set up a commodity marketing company for the state. This company will operate more or less like a marketing board. The company will buy up excesses of food and cash crops from farmers. This will prevent the current dumping of food and cash crops owing to lack of storage facilities. The company will thus intervene between the middlemen and farmers and help the farmers get value for their labour.

As you will notice, we have voted we have voted a substantial amount of money for agricultural development in the next fiscal year. The bulk of this money is to be spent on areas that will help to boost food and cash crop production. We are currently wooing potential investors in the area of agro-industries. We will encourage medium and small-scale agro-industrial enterprises. This will achieve a two-fold objective. It will use our agricultural produce as raw materials and thus encourage farmers to produce more. The industries will offer employment and skill to our young school leavers.

One notes that there was no promise of light for all by the year 2000. Does this mean that our semi-urban and rural areas must remain condemned to darkness? We find this unacceptable. In order to ameliorate this situation, we have so far completed rural electrification projects in Masaka, Uke, Sabongida, Wulko, Agyaragu, and the Makurdi road junction settlement. In the new year we are proceeding apace with our rural electrification scheme in the following towns and villages – Duduguru, Gidan Buba, Mararaba (in Nasarawa Local Government Area), Agwada, Tashan Mada and Rukubi. We have made adequate provision for rural electrification schemes in the Budget of Rebirth.

Nasarawa State is the home of solid minerals. Of what benefit are such resources if they are not tapped or exploited? For long, this major area of our economy was neglected by successive administrations. It seems idle to talk about the economic empowerment of our people when there is so much wealth under our own soil waiting to be tapped. This government is determined to aggressively pursue the exploitation of our solid mineral resources. As a first step, we have set up Solid Minerals Company. This company will undertake a comprehensive mapping of all our solid mineral deposits throughout the state. With the information collected, it will become the information bank for potential investors in this area. This is also our own way of assisting such investors. We save them the time and the expenses of carrying out this crucial investigation by themselves.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, this administration recognises the place of effective information dissemination in a democracy. The media of public information provide the government and the governed opportunities for meaningful interaction. We intend to fully encourage this in order to involve the people more and more in our decision-making process. The honourable members of this house would remember that the past military administration bequeathed to us the construction of the state radio and television complex. We will complete this complex in the fiscal year 2000. That administration also bought the title of Nasarawa Newsday, a weekly newspaper. We are in the process of establishing this newspaper as an effective medium of public information as well.

As part of our efforts to open the state to the rest of the world, we are pleased to inform this honourable house that Nasarawa State has gone on line. That is to say, it is on the Internet. The website address, for your information is www.nasarawastate.org. The benefits of putting the state on the Internet are immense. The Internet, otherwise known as the information super highway, is the greatest revolution in human ingenuity. Using a combination of computer and telecommunications technology, the Internet is able to access, provide and disseminate information to and from any part of the world. The site of the state is a window to all our potential investment opportunities. Our web site showcases Nasarawa State. We are proud to be one of the first few states in the federation to be part of this information revolution.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, on my assumption of office on May 29 this year, I made it abundantly clear that I laid no claims on monopoly of wisdom. At no time in my electioneering campaign did I offer myself as the wisest man this state has ever produced. I offered myself as a selfless servant of the people. I make this point to once more underline the fact that this administration welcomes and encourages genuine and constructive criticisms of its actions and decisions. Such criticisms will help to keep us on our toes. More importantly, they will help to subject our actions and decisions to the crucibles of public opinion and help us correct course before we go too far off the mark. Criticisms aimed at denigrating this administration and its principal officers are both unhelpful and destructive. They should be discouraged. Our doors are open twenty-fours hours everyday. We encourage people to walk through them to either seek clarifications on the decisions of the government or offer their views and suggestions. But let it be understood that as much as we would like to consult all of our leaders at various levels all of the time, this may not always be possible all of the time. This should not be taken as an attempt to ignore or marginalise anyone or a group of persons. Desirable as such consultations may be, the exigencies of time make them practically impossible some of the time.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, in less than three weeks, we will be in the next century. We are gathered here because we are concerned about what the new century holds for our people. Let us resolve to play our little part as the leading actors on the stage of the administration of our state so that whatever losses or deprivation our people suffered in the dying century will not repeat themselves in the new one.

Mr. Speaker Sir, honourable members, it is now my pleasure and privilege to formally present to you the Nasarawa State budget, the Budget of Rebirth, for the fiscal year 2000 AD.

Thank you and may God continue to bless and guide us all.