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20 Years Of Under Development In Kogi State- By Idris Miliki
Abdul
Newsdiaryonline Fri Aug 26,2011
As we mark the 20 years of the creation of
Kogi state, this celebration should go beyond merry making and
calls for deep reflection, stocktaking and overall evaluation of
where we are coming from, where are we now, and where we intend
to go from here. What is the rate of development of our people?
The state is littered with sub standard and abandoned projects.
The educational sector is in shambles, the health sector is
nothing to write home about. The welfare of the people have been
left unattended to, due to lack of industrial development, low
level of employment opportunities despite the various frequent
frivolous foreign travels in the name of drawing foreign
investment. Where are the Malaysian, South African and Russian
investors? Numerous
Advisers and assistants without schedule, is the order of the
day despite that the state is the second poorest according to
CBN statistics.
The last nine years under this
administration have witnessed the most deplorable condition of
the state, where a media outfit like Radio Kogi has existed
illegally for 20 years without a Board and yet the state
government spent over N 200,000,000 (two hundred million
naira) to renovate this illegal
entity that had no legislative backing. Furthermore, all laws
that have been passed by the state Assembly since the existence
of the state, are null and void, and cannot be cited in any
court of law, as they are not gazetted since we do not have a
state printing press. The mouth organ of the state, THE GRAPHIC
NEWSPAPER, is still being printed in Ibadan subjecting the
staffs to risk and low output
The revenue that has accrued to the state
in the last nine years is more than double the revenue earned by
the state in the previous 11 years before this administration.
However, there is little or no commensurate human or capital
development to show for it.
Despite the fact that local government is
an institution that should be closer to the people, and enhance
their development, which should be administered through
democratically elected persons, the government has failed to
conduct elections into this all important tier of government. We
demand for the election into local government (councils) without
further delay, as the DLGs put in place have commenced looting
of these great institutions. We condemn in strong terms the
various illegality perpetuated by this administration and urge
the people to reject incompetent and corrupt leaders in Kogi
state.
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IDRIS MILIKI
ABDUL
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CHRCR
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