Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin-Kebbi

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state, on Wednesday, was in tears over the level of poverty and underdevelopment among the people of the state.

Governor Bagudu, who could not hold back his emotions, while speaking with journalists, noted that he was usually disturbed seeing people of the state wallowing in poverty because of their background and economic disadvantages. He maintained that as a leader, he is ready to sacrifice his life for the development of the state.

The governor who was responding to questions on what he would like to be remembered for when he leaves, suddenly burst into tears, which threw members of his cabinet into a deafening silence.

He recalled that his father were primary school teacher who labored hard to push him (Governor Bagudu) forward in pursuing his career despite all odds saying “here I am today as the governor of the state because my parent  suffered a lot to ensure that I become somebody in life”.

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He further said that ” I wish to leave Kebbi State like Singapore, Washington, or Korea. I am ready to sacrifice everything as a leader for the people of Kebbi State.

“I once visited a Primary school and a teacher told me that the pupils were not doing well because the evil spirits (Jinns) within the premises of the school do not want structure erected in their territory.

“I told him to take me to them that I was the one who directed people to erect structure in the area. This is part of the sacrifice one has to make as a leader”, he said.

Governor Bagudu also said that to improve the living standard of people of the state, the state government has secured N1.5 billion loan from the World Bank to support fish farmers and other livestock farmers in the state.

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He noted that the procurement of tractors and training of youths in modern farm tools handling currently going on is meant to increase food production, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and improve the standard of living of people at the grassroots.

“We want more people to participate in agriculture to provide more jobs for our people. We also need simple farm mechanical tools to help our people to achieve a lot on their farms.

“But we don’t want tools that will displaced them from their jobs. That is why we invested on hand harvesters and other simple tools like that,” he said.