The Benue State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Omadachi Oklobia recently spoke to journalists on the 2012 budget and the controversies surrounding the implementation of the 2011 Budget in Benue State. Solomon Ayado was there for LEADERSHIP.
The state government recently presented the 2012 budget to the Benue State House of Assembly. Can you give us a general overview of the budget?
You will recall that His Excellency presented the budget recently to the Benue State House of Assembly and he made it clear as to what forms the basis of the 2012 budget.
The first thing he said which constitute the theme of the budget was to ensure actualization of further development in our dear state. The second thing that he clearly stated was the completion of all ongoing projects especially critical infrastructures which are critical to the development f our dear state. In that, he mentioned the completion of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital which is now at an advance stage. He also talked about additional kilometers of urban and rural roads across the three geo-political zones of the state. He also talked about initiating one or two urban and semi-urban water schemes. Central to this are: the Otukpa Water Works, the Ayiin Water Works and the fact that he intends to also start one in Guma Local Government Area. He also talked about revitalization of our ailing industries but in this case, through private-public partnership (PPP).
And we have received a couple of investors in the state who have been interested in some of our ailing industries and we are talking with them and discussion between these investors and the Ministry of Commerce is at an advance stage. These industries are already up for investors to fund. One of such is the Benue Fruit Juice Factory here in Makurdi. AnMoU has been signed in respect to that. Also, government will soon sign MoU for the Orange and Juice Factory in Yandev and Gboko. Discussions are at an advance stage and we hope to sign an MoU before the end of this year. And you are also aware that we signed an MoU for the revitalization and management of Taraku Mills last year, and the investors have injected money into it and they are working on reviving it.
Then, we also have one or two people interested in the plastic plant. Work is going on at the tomato plant at Wannune and work is also going on with the Chinese on the cement factory at Igumale in Ado Local Government.
Also, the governor is looking at taking agriculture to the next level; that is, looking at agriculture from a purely business point of view rather than just from fertilizer or from an input point of view. He wants to change the outlook. Let us see agriculture from business point of view rather than we just buy fertilizers or farm inputs and distribute to farmers.
Now, his idea of looking at agriculture from that point of view is to make money from agriculture. Also, he sees agriculture as a way of expanding infrastructure and it’s one of the quickest ways to provide job to the unemployed youths on the street. So, the government is looking at it from these three angles. If we invest in agriculture and see it as a business, we can bring in investors and you could have people work on different sectors. The value change is so much that we could use that to employ as many persons as possible especially the young persons in the state. The other thing that he also talked about is the renovation of primary and secondary schools across the state.
We are partnering with the Universal Basic Education Board in Abuja to raise some funds. As I speak to you, we have raised about N4.2 billion which we will be putting into renovation of schools across the state. We have advertised through due process and we have been receiving a lot of interests from contractors who are interested in participating in that process. So, I believe that in the month of February or March, a lot of these contracts will be awarded and you will see a lot of work in the areas of primary schools and secondary schools renovation.
What about the Health sector?
Also, we are doing a lot in the area of Health especially in the renovation of general hospitals across the state. We have released some money to contractors and we are setting up a process of monitoring and ensuring that all of these work are done to specification. The governor also clearly stated in the 2012 budget speech that he intends to improve on social and economic well being of the citizens of the state; including the issue of security. In 2012, the governor purchased additional vehicles for ‘Operation Zenda’, the police outfit that helps secure our streets across the state. My understanding is that these vehicles will be commissioned within the next one or two weeks from now.
So, a lot is going on. As you know, from day one, he took security extremely serious and he has continued to do that year in, year out. In 2012, he is also taking security of life and property very seriously. These basically have been the core issues that he has raised in the 2012 budget.
There are also some other underlining issues that we may categorize as recurrent; the issue of the payroll of the state. The governor has implemented the new minimum wage.
In fact, in Benue State, we pay more than N18,000 as minimum wage. We are paying N19,200 as minimum wage. It is the governor’s gesture of showing appreciation to civil servants in the state. He intends to continue to maintain that and ensure that we pay minimum wage as approved following the negotiations that we had between the state government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). He also stated in the budget that he would make available, some new critical projects and programs that would ensure human capital development and mitigate against youth unemployment in the state. So, there will be a lot of programs that would help reduce unemployment as we get into the 2012 fiscal year.
You are aware that immediately the subsidy thing was removed, Benue state was one of the first states to be proactive in terms of putting together a palliative committee to look into the possibility of implementing measures that would help reduce the pressure on our citizens. And we are going to continue in 2012 to ensure that gratuity and pension are paid as and when due. We look into the welfare of our pensioners as best as we can.
Also, he stated that government will ensure the provision of all necessary social amenities in the state. He is not going to exclude any person or any section of the state in terms of provision of social amenities. These are all the things His Excellency enumerated in the 2012 budget and presented to the House.
What stage is the budget now?
At the moment, we are engaging the House of Assembly particularly the committee on appropriation and we are working towards the passage of the budget this month. And as a government, we shall implement the budget to the letter; as we can’t afford to politicize the implementation of any aspect of the budget because all the targets in the appropriation bill touch on the lives of the people that had voted His Excellency, Hon. Gabriel Suswam as executive governor of the state for the second term.