Budget of Consolidation

Being Text of the Speech by His Excellency, Dr. Abdullahi Adamu, (Sarkin Yakin Keffi) Executive Governor of Nasarawa State at the Official Presentation of the 2006 Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly on Monday, December 19, 2005.

We lay before this honourable house the Nasarawa State 2006 appropriation bill today with a deep sense of history. It is the eternal privilege of history to pass judgment on those on whom the almighty God in his infinite wisdom and mercy thrusts the burden and the privilege of leadership. As we approach the critical political equivalent of what men of literature call denouement, we would do well to bear this in mind. What we do and what we fail to do will all form the basis on which history will judge us. Let us not work to please history but let us not ignore history in our work.

This is the season of annual budgets in our country. In the last few weeks, the federal and several state governments presented their budgets to the national and state legislatures respectively. In a democracy, this rite of political spring is an annual renewal of the social contract between the government and the people. A budget charts the course of social development. To us, therefore, the annual budget is neither a routine duty placed on the executive arm of government nor an annual ritual with no higher end than the ceremony that attends it. It means much more to us. It affords us the opportunity to redefine our goals and dream new dreams of a better tomorrow for our state and its people. We approach this sacred duty, therefore, with a solemn sense of stewardship.

From its inception, this administration anchored its policies and development programme on five cardinal principles. Please permit me to restate them as follows:

a. The evolution of a clear socio-cultural philosophy for the efficient management of our human, financial and natural resources for the greatest good of the greatest number of our people;
b. Co-ordinated infrastructural development for a meaningful empowerment of our people;
c. Poverty alleviation through self-actualisation in the context of a holistic socio-economic empowerment;
d. Rapid educational, agricultural and industrial development of the entire state and
e. Transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business.

These cardinal principles informed the preparation and infused the implementation of our six previous budgets. It will be the same with this new budget. Our commitment to these cardinal principles has seen fundamental changes in our state in all critical areas of human development such as education, industrialization and the empowerment of the people. The new Nasarawa State we promised at the inception of our administration has indeed emerged, like the phoenix, from the ashes of past neglect. I invite all of us to take a bow.

We see the new Nasarawa state as emerging from our dogged determination to succeed after decades of economic and social strangulation. In 1999 when this administration came on board, Nasarawa was a State gripped by both internal and external debts and a paucity of development funds. We have largely endeavoured to keep these debts within manageable limits so that our developmental objectives and programmes are not scuttled. We commend the federal government for negotiating and securing 60% debt forgiveness for our country from the Paris club and undertaking to pay off the remaining 40%. By the terms of the arrangement, the federal government and all states are to participate in the liquidation of the loan. However, official records available to us and at the federal ministry of finance indicate that Nasarawa state is not indebted to the Paris club. Our external debt which was incurred by the defunct Plateau State when it took the Midland Bank loan, is with the London club. If we contribute to offsetting the Paris club loan, we would be paying for a debt we did not take nor use. We appeal to the federal government to have a rethink of this policy or negotiate a similar agreement with the London club so that our state’s external debt profile would be totally wiped out.

A second factor that seemed to negatively impact on our development efforts in the past nine years is the fact that at creation, Nasarawa state did not receive any take-off grant from the federal government. Interestingly, every state that had been created since 1967 prior to the creation of Nasarawa in 1996, got take off grants from the federal government. Our efforts to correct this anomaly have thus far failed to materialize. This lack of initial take off funds seriously impaired the development of required administrative infrastructure for good governance. And to worsen the situation, Nasarawa state is at the bottom of the ladder in the monthly distribution of fiscal resources available to the federation. We therefore continue to struggle for survival among the comity of states. Our determination to give meaning to our democratic mandate has however propelled us to conceptualize, implement and sustain programmes and policies that have resulted in the complete transformation of the fortunes of Nasarawa state. Unfortunately, each time so called assessments of performance are made, there are no benchmarks to determine relative performance.

A budget, no matter how carefully prepared, is still largely based on certain economic assumptions. These assumptions may, sometimes, be off the mark because they are subject to the vagaries of both national and global economies. These developments may mean either more money or less money in the coffers of government. There are obvious implications in both developments. We make this explanation so we can put the performances of the 2005 budget in its proper perspective. The performance of that budget fell short of expectations in certain critical areas because of a short fall in our revenue projections. This honourable house would recall that the state budgeted N25,417,487,162.00 in the 2005 fiscal year. Capital vote took N14,180,418,162.00 while N11,237,068,337.00 went to recurrent expenditure. We based our projected earnings in the year on a new revenue allocation formula for which the federal government submitted a bill to the national assembly. Unfortunately, the national assembly did not pass the new revenue allocation bill into law. It has still not done so. The consequence was less money in our coffers. As at November 31, 2005, total receipts for the fiscal year 2005 amounted to N17,491,558,646.00 equivalent to 65.71 percent of estimated revenue. Our total Statutory Revenue Allocation from federation accounts stood at N13,140,087,855.00 representing 64.41 percent of projected earnings while we received N1,499,309,006.00 from our share of VAT. Internally Generated Revenue receipts amounted to N947,057,855.00 which is 54.27% of projected earnings.

Some of our new capital development projects became victims of this unexpected development. Our inability to embark on the new capital projects had adverse multiplier effects on socio-economic activities in the state during the year. The new capital projects could have generated new economic activities with a favourable impact on the economy of the state. This did not happen. The situation also affected our projected internally generated revenue. As a new and non-oil producing state, Nasarawa State depends largely on its share from the federation account. The state government remains the major employer of labour and the main catalyst for economic activities in the state. This administration has worked and continues to work, tirelessly to free the state from this near-total dependence on its share from the federation account. We are beginning to see the fruits of our labour but we still have a long way to go. The transformation of our state from a rural economy into a modern industrialized economy will take years of sweat, labour and commitment on the part of all of us. We must not refuse to do our part so that our state may become what we want it to become.

Our development goals have the unique character of being people-driven. This is why our relatively lean annual budgets have always performed like jumbo budgets else where. We do not promise a jumbo budget. We promise a budget consistent with the depth of our pocket.

Let me draw the attention of this honourable house to two important aspects of the 2006 budget. Firstly, it is the last full budget that will be implemented by our administration. The 2007 budget, the last to be prepared by our administration, will be partly implemented by us and partly by the succeeding administration in the state. The implementation of the 2006 budget is critical to the integrity of this administration. In a fundamental way, its implementation will be the take off point for the succeeding administration. We are, therefore, passionate about the full and unimpeded implementation of this budget because we are conscious of the fact that any fundamental mistakes in its implementation might constitute a hurdle in the path of the succeeding administration. We will not allow that to happen.

Secondly, the 2006 budget is a budget of consolidation because with it, we shall consolidate the gains and the dividends of democracy in our state. Its primary target is the completion of on-going projects throughout the state. In our 2005 budget, we promised that this administration would not saddle its successor with the burden of uncompleted projects. This new budget will help us to work towards fulfilling that solemn promise. Our commitment to the completion of on-going projects would be without prejudice to new social and economic development projects deemed by government to be vital to the state and its people. However, we will endeavour to complete such projects before the baton is passed on to our successor.

For 2006, we propose a budget of N29,052,313,129.00, made up of a capital expenditure of N16,417,552,215.00 and a recurrent vote of N12,634,760,914.00. Our estimated receipts from the statutory revenue allocation amounts to N22,000,000,000.00 (Twenty-two Billion Naira) while estimated VAT earnings for 2006 amounts to N2,000,000,000.00. Other aspects of our estimates for the 2006 fiscal year are – Internally Generated Revenue, N1,745,013,991.00; Grants and Loans, N960,000,000.00 and Miscellaneous receipts, N2,347,299,138.00. Total estimated revenue therefore stands at a total of N29,052,313,129.00.A remarkable feature of the 2006 budget proposal is that it is a balanced budget. Our expenditure profile fits neatly into our projected revenue.

The details of the sectoral allocations are contained in the appropriation bill. However, permit me to underline the fact that as in our previous budgets, education takes the lion share of the 2006 budget. It is followed by agriculture, health, rural development, water resources, public works and transport. This expenditure pattern is consistent with our carefully thought out programme of accelerated social and economic development of the state.

We wish to speak a little more on education because of our giant strides in this sector, the real mother of modern socio-economic sectors. At the inception of this administration in 1999, we promised revolutionary changes in our education because of our conviction that education is the bedrock of human development. All nations, great and small, rich or poor, realise this only too well. Here, even our peasant farmers struggle to send their children to school. Most of us here are sons and daughter of peasant farmers. We know the sacrifices our parents made to send us to and keep us in school until we attain the level of education which made us what we are today. Still, in 1999, we met an educational system suffering from the crippling ills of near-neglect. For two years before we came in, our state could not boast of public sector secondary school students whose school certificate grades qualified them for direct admission into universities. This was a major disaster for the state. We wasted no time in tackling this enormous challenge. Our first major activity outside Lafia, the state capital, was the June 23^rd 1999 launching of our Basic Education Programme at Ara in Nasarawa Local Government Area. Through this programme and its subsequent modifications we committed ourselves to spending no less than 28 percent of our annual budgets on education; we built new primary and secondary schools, rehabilitated and upgraded existing primary and secondary schools throughout the state. We recruited qualified teachers from all over the country. We improved the existing educational facilities and provided teaching aids. Hard work has its own reward. Within one year of our determined effort and commitment, our state won the first prize in educational funding amongst the northern states. On the 6^th of December 2005, the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board released the results of students that passed the 2005 University Matriculation Examinations, state by state. Those results provided firm evidence that our investments in education have began to yield the desired results. Of the 19 Northern states, Nasarawa state came 6^th in the total number of candidates who passed the examinations and qualified for university admission. Our state was surpassed only by Kogi, Kwara, Benue, Kano and Kaduna. We would not rest on our oars until we get to the very top. Today, our state is no longer at the bottom rung of our nation’s educational development. Our boys and girls are taking their rightful places in federal and state universities and other post-secondary institutions in various parts of the country. We are climbing up the educational ladder with steady and sure steps.

The summit of our educational programme is, of course, the state university. Some level of scepticism very often the refuge of the short sighted, attended our decision to set up this university. But we knew we were right and our critics were wrong. This honourable house would be as pleased as we are to know that Nasarawa State University graduated its first set of students in the 2004/2005 academic session. The first convocation ceremony for the award of academic laurels to its deserving graduates will take place sometime in January/February next year. Nasarawa State University is more than a dream come true. It represents a giant leap into the future of our state in particular and our country in general. It is a matter of pride for the government and the people of this state that our university has already become a first class academic institution in the country within only four years of its commencement of academic activities. It has students, academic and non-academic staff from almost every state of the country and is thus contributing meaningfully to national unity, national integration and national cohesion. The university does not charge differential fees between indigenous and non-indigenous students. This is a deliberate policy of the state government to make the university a centre of academic excellence and home to all Nigerians. In furtherance of this policy, the state public service will automatically absorb all the first set of graduates of the university who cannot secure employment at the end of their one year compulsory service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

We wish to pay a special tribute to the governing council, the vice-chancellor, the academic and the non-academic staff as well as the students of the university for the great achievements by the university. Their excellent work and dedication cannot but bear fruits that others would only envy. Indeed, only recently, the National Universities Commission, NUC, adjudged our university as the best funded state university in Nigeria. The same report rated our young institution as the 13^th best in terms of academic performances among the comity of Nigerian universities, beating many first generation federal universities in the process. The NUC has just completed accreditation exercise for about thirty-two new academic programmes offered by the university. These are in addition to the programmes already accredited by the NUC. We are certain that with the human and material resources put in place, all the courses will receive the nod of the NUC to run full steam. A good university must be part of the people. Only so would it be relevant to their needs. We urge all of you to continue to be part of the university and make the university part of you.

Manpower development is vital to human progress. Higher institutions are fundamental to manpower development. To cater for middle level manpower development, we have established additional tertiary institution across the state. These are the Nasarawa state polytechnic, the school of health technology and the school of nursing and midwifery. In like manner, we have provided adequate support for the improvement of facilities in our existing tertiary institutions. Due to increased funding and support, the college of education Akwanga has received accreditation for all its courses from the national commission for colleges of education and has partnered with the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to award degrees in various fields of education. The college of agriculture, Lafia has also received accreditation for its courses from the national board for technical education as well as become the host campus for the faculty of agricultural sciences, Nasarawa state university. In 2006, we expect to see the take off of the college of medical sciences, Nasarawa state university.

No one can doubt the commitment of our administration to capacity building in the state civil service. We have taken double giant leaps here through various forms of manpower training, formal and informal, as well as creating a conducive working environment for our civil servants. We have seen some improvements in the capacity of the civil service to respond to the needs of a people oriented democratic government. We are sad however to note that the civil servants have not generally reciprocated our efforts with improved productivity. There still remains a lot of room for improvement as the speed of response is not commensurate with the requirements of the 21^st century digital environment, otherwise referred to as e-government. We appeal once more to them to brace up and take on the challenges facing the state. We expect them to reciprocate government policy of enhancing their welfare by being committed partners with government in the upliftment of the state and its people. We are not asking for too much. We are asking for what is just and fair to the state and its people.

2005 saw improved government-labour relations. Our labour leaders showed good understanding of our policies and programmes and gave us their support. We are grateful for this. Increases in petroleum prices forced the National Economic Council to direct the federal government and state governments decided to jointly finance the purchase of buses to make transportation affordable for the people to help cushion the effect of the price increases. We took immediate steps to implement the policy directive. We have since paid for and taken delivery of the buses for the state. The federal government is yet to make its counterpart funding available to us. This administration will continue to make the necessary sacrifices for the welfare of the people. We hope to distribute the buses to bona fide transport concerns that are able to provide performance bonds before the first quarter of next year.

Despite the short fall in our revenue projections for 2005, we have not allowed our major development projects to suffer. Work on the independent hydro-electric power plant is, therefore, on course. It is progressing satisfactorily. We expect the target completion time of 2006 to be met. Its completion will result in increased power generation and distribution in the state. This will certainly have a positive impact on public and private economic activities in the state.

Agriculture is the predominant occupation of over 80% of our population. Indeed it is safe to say that every family in Nasarawa state engages in one form of agriculture or the other. In order to boost productivity and enhance farming practices, government has commenced preliminary discussions with commercial farmers from Southern African states who intend to establish large scale farms across the country. Following a presidential nomination of Nasarawa as one of the states with high potential for agricultural revolution, we have visited Kwara state where the first set of commercial farmers from Zimbabwe have established large scale farms at Shonga. We also participated in the Presidential retreat on agriculture where the policy was further discussed. At the end of these interactions, we were convinced that this programme has the capacity to make a difference in the farming practices of our state as well as introduce other value added operations to our farming communities. Consequently, government has taken the decision to invite these commercial farmers to establish commercial farms in the state in the course of 2006. We will initially access them to farm lands at Angwan Zaria, Doma and Gitata where plans for large scale farming activities had already been initiated by government. Funding for the programme will come from commercial banks as coordinated by the Central Bank. At the moment, we have not made any provision for this programme in the 2006 appropriation bill, but if we find it necessary to make appropriations for it in the course of implementation of the programme, we shall not hesitate to revert to this honourable house for appropriate legislation.

Government has also decided to diversify agricultural practices among our farmers. Consequent upon this, government will, in the course of 2006 establish an aquaculture park for the development and distribution of fingerlings to those who would be interested in developing fish farms.

Three major road construction projects in the state are also in various stages of completion. We hope to complete the Tashan Mada road during the year. Work on the Kokona-Agwada-Udegen Beki and the Doma-Agyaragu roads have also reached advanced stages. We plan to undertake the construction of Lafia bypass and some Lafia township roads and major drainages during the year. We have mentioned these few projects only to show that our core projects are on course.

This honourable house would be pleased to know that given our open door policy, our state is attracting increasing presence of the federal government, federal parastatals and the private sector. The federal government has conveyed to us the decision to site the headquarters of its Arable Crops Development Marketing Company in the state. We have accepted to provide the necessary support for it. This, no doubt, will have a positive impact on our agriculture and rural development. We also welcome the federal government decision as a short in the arm of our rural development programme which is steadily changing the face of our rural areas.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is to establish two national electoral institutes in the country. We are proud to say that the commission has chosen our state for the establishment of one of the proposed institutes. All of us must do more than welcome these initiatives. We must regard our individual support for them as the call of our dear state to duty.

Non-governmental organisations have become critical agents of development the world over. It is our policy to encourage them and other civil society organisations in the state. We regard them as our partners in progress. Innovative Biotech, an NGO founded by Dr Simon Agwale, an indigene of this state from Jankwe local government area, has been established in Keffi. It is currently, in collaboration with international agencies, making efforts to locally produce vaccines against HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, tuberculosis and typhoid. Government is giving it the necessary political support and assistance to make it succeed as support programme for our health delivery system.

To demonstrate our commitment to bequeath an enduring democratic structure, we will support the implementation of the following capital projects for the legislative arm of government – that is, the expansion and furnishing of the Assembly complex as well as the purchase and installation of printing machines for the assembly’s publications.

In our system of government, the judiciary is the third arm of government. In their wisdom, the political thinkers who gave the world the presidential system of government did not think that two arms would be enough. It is one arm we cannot afford to neglect. We have continued to provide modern facilities for the state judiciary to the extent our resources will allow to enable it discharge its duty to the people. In 2006, we shall build new headquarters for the sharia and customary courts of appeal in the state. We will also provide additional and enhanced facilities and necessary infrastructures for the lower bench throughout the state in the course of the year.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, our administration continues to enjoy the support and co-operation of our royal fathers and the generality of the people at all levels. We acknowledge their commitment to peace and good neighbourliness. Permit me to say a big thank you to them. It is a statement of our appreciation of their partnership with government and the quality of their service that we signed the Nasarawa State Local Government (Amendment) law on Wednesday, 16^th November, 2005. The law essentially makes provision for the integration of the wisdom of our traditional institutions into modern administration. Under the law, our emirs and chiefs will advise the governor and our local government councils on all matters of public interest and good governance. We urge them to take advantage of this opportunity to make today good for our state and tomorrow even better for it.

It remains for me to pay a special tribute to this honourable house. Let me say, without mincing words, that without the co-operation and the unalloyed support of this honourable house, our state would not have made the progress it has made so far. The honourable members of this house have never failed individually or collectively to do their best in ensuring the success of our policies and programmes. The honourable members are fully alive to their responsibilities as elected servants of the people in the service of the people. They have consequently passed many bills for the welfare of the people and the state. We have said it before and we say it again: our state is both lucky and blessed to have this dedicated crop of law-makers.

Mr. Speaker, honourable members, it is now my pleasure and privilege to place before this honourable house the Nasarawa State appropriation bill for the 2006 fiscal year budget for your consideration. We urge you not to unduly delay its passage into law so that its implementation can begin early in the new year.

Thank you and may God continue to guide us in our collective determination to serve our state and its people.