Kaduna State Governor, Yakowa
Kaduna State Governor, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, in this interview with select journalists, speaks about the achievements of his administration in the past six months, the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party and the consensus presidential arrangement. SEGUN OLATUNJI was there
Could you share with us how it has been in the past six months that you have been in the saddle
as the governor of Kaduna State?
I will say to God be the glory and once again, I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to serve this state and this nation in this capacity. The past months have been a period of settling down. As I said during my inauguration, it is a period of continuity. I came in at the middle of the year and as someone who has been in the government for several years, I believe in continuity. I believe that a major bane of development in this nation has been the lack of continuity of programmes and policies. Even along the line, as you continue, you will see the need to review and revise in order to get more focused. That is precisely what we are doing right now, as I prepare for 2011, and the first budget of this administration, which we are tagging a ‘Budget of Reality.’ Everything has been in line with the pronouncement that I made during my inauguration. Very recently, I embarked on a local government tour, where I inspected Federal Government projects, which have direct bearing on this state, as well as state government projects and local government projects. The activities of these three tiers of government complement one another. That is what we are supposed to be doing and not operating at cross purposes because ultimately, we are serving the same clientele and the same people, and that is why there has to be harmony and coordination between the three tiers of government for us to be able to have maximum effect. Largely, this has been lacking, but work is in progress. So, I thank God.
What challenges have you faced since you assumed office as the governor of this state?
The expectations on the part of our people are enormous and one of my biggest challenges is to generate enough resources to meet substantial needs of the people. We’re talking about security. Much as we do a lot under Operation Yaki, you see that there is the need to do a little bit more. You go to education, health, agriculture, poverty alleviation and infrastructural development. I want to open up the new city and all these projects need resource mobilisation to meet the needs of the people.
How is the state government preparing to pay the new minimum wage that the civil servants are asking for?
I have no comment on that yet because the issue is being discussed at the national level. You are talking about the minimum wage. Let me tell you that before the debate on minimum wage came in, I saw the need to increase the take-home pay of the civil servants in Kaduna State and that we have already done. I recall that when we were discussing the issue of the new minimum wage at the National Economic Council, I discovered that we are not the least paying state, but somewhere in the middle of the ladder. So, we have come up substantially within the period. In order to reduce the burden of the Sallah festival, I directed the Ministry of Finance to ensure that salaries were paid even when it was not yet the middle of the month so that our Muslim brothers could celebrate the Sallah with their families. So, I leave you and the people to judge.
You are currently on a local government tour and I believe that you may be using the opportunity to assess your chances in the 2011 elections. What is your impression about the feelings of the people towards your aspiration?
I will allow you to assess that by yourself or ask your colleagues, who went with us on the tour. But believe me when I say I was greatly overwhelmed beyond my own expectations about how people have taken some of the things that I have been able to do within this short period. As I said, I am continuing; but in addition to that, we have been able to come out with a few things that the people feel very strongly about. One is the complete release of LG funds to them because I believe that they are a duly elected tier of government. That was the conviction with which I came and I believe they should go and showcase what they have. I feel there is a general appreciation of that. I came in even as a Christian and one of the things I did was, regarding the 2010 Hajj, I told them to do everything possible to make sure that the 2010 Hajj was successful and if possible, make it less cumbersome for the pilgrims. They met and looked at the issues that affected the past exercises and came out with an arrangement that substantially reduced the airfare by N60,000. This meant additional savings for the pilgrims.
Your party, the PDP, was enmeshed in the issue of finding a consensus candidate from the North to contest against President Goodluck Jonathan at the party’s primaries. What is your take on this?
We are in a democracy and even here at the Council Chambers when we debated the issue, we discovered that every Nigerian has the constitutional right to aspire to be anything: from the President to councillor. By so doing, everybody is exercising their constitutional right. In the process, you can go into a dialogue with one another. I am sure that democracy allows that. Even though I don’t want to comment on that issue, all that I am saying is that people are exercising their democratic rights and nobody can be gagged. That is all that I am saying. But for me, I think for us here, our position is very clear, the vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was, until recently, the governor of this state and now, he is the number two citizen and he is together with the President on the same ticket. We are here solidly in support of the Jonathan/Sambo ticket. Our stand has been made very clear and I say it as my democratic right.
Coming to Kaduna, some people are of the opinion that the governorship of the state has been zoned to the central zone and you, from the South, has already declared your intention to contest. What do you have to say on this?
I am not aware of when and where anybody sat down and zoned the Kaduna governorship ticket to the central zone. However, let us not go into the issue of zoning because that is what I just talked about at the national level. God, on His own, did His zoning at the national level and in Kaduna here. I want the people to respect the zoning of God.
We learnt that you said that northern governors should no longer meet in Kaduna. Could that be the truth?
For anybody to say that I asked the northern governors not to meet in Kaduna anymore is malicious. That statement can never come from me. Maybe it came from some mischief makers, but certainly not from me. On what basis will I say that? There is absolutely no need for me to say that. I am not the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum. Kaduna is the seat of the northern governors’ meeting and it remains so. Anyway, if the Chief Servant decides that the northern governors are going to meet, I will always provide all the necessary facilities that I normally provide for the meeting. So, that statement is not true.
You are a busy man. How do you relax?
I jog and I watch football.
Which is your favourite team?
Manchester United.
Your administration plans to privatise some government companies and critics are of the view that such companies will be more beneficial to the people if handled by the government. What is your comment on this?
During my local government tour, I visited the Kachia Ginger Factory, which has been closed for several years alongside the Ikara Food Company, Zaria Pharmaceutical Company and the Kafanchan Flour Mill. The previous administration set up a committee to privatise them and it is my intention to fast-track the implementation of that process of privatising them. Right now, none of them is producing and I just told you the challenges of the government. This is a commercial sector and this aspect is best handled by the private sector, while the government concentrates on providing the enabling environment for the economy to thrive. Such include security, good roads, education, health and infrastructural development. This is precisely what I want to pursue. If you can help me with any investor that is interested, I will be glad. There is so much potential for ginger in Kaduna. Ikara is one area where a lot of tomatoes are grown. So, I am going ahead with that process.
The construction of a bridge across River Kaduna to ease traffic within the metropolis is one dream many residents of this state would love to see realised. When will the construction begin?
I want to assure the good people of Kaduna that the construction of the new bridge, initiated by the current vice-president when he was governor, is still going on and the need for another bridge across River Kaduna that will ease traffic is very glaring. I want to assure you that it is still on and what has slowed us down is the issue of resources. We are working round the clock to start work on that bridge before the end of the year.
Recently, your government went to the capital market to source fund. When will the government start accessing the fund?
That fund was sourced for a number of projects such as the Zaria water project, which is going on well; the 300-bed specialist hospital, the new Government House office complex and as you can see, work is at an advanced stage here. The fund is also to be expended on a number of roads in the southern part of the state and the Kafanchan campus of the Kaduna State University. Work on the access roads within the campus has started. So, the fund was specifically sourced for some projects and work on the projects is going on smoothly.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/
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