Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State says he would not distribute the state’s resources among only few individuals.
Bello, who stated this at the end of the Jummat prayer with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, said that the state’s resources would be used for the overall benefit of all citizens.
He said that the administration would continue to stand on this policy until all the people of Kogi realised that is the best for them and the state.
Bello also called on Nigerians to continue to support the Buhari administration with prayers to succeed in its people-oriented policies.
“We followed Mr. President to pray Jummat prayers and we are happy that he is getting stronger and stronger by the day.
“We can only thank Almighty Allah for this wonderful job that he has done for this country.
“I only urge all Nigerians to continue to pray and give him all the necessary support. Nigeria is going to be better,’’ he said.
The governor revealed that the cases of kidnapping and armed robbery which used to characterise the state had been brought under control.
“In the last 13 or 14 months that I assumed office, if you have been there you know that Kogi is changing from the dark days to the present economic prosperity a whole lot has been done.
‘’We are following our economic blueprint and things are changing in terms of infrastructure.
“The civil service is being reformed, pension too is being reformed and investors are coming in because we have largely secured the state.
“The state used to be very unsecure, kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes in the past; but by the grace of God and the good people of the state we have been able to stem the tide.
“That is why diplomats are flooding my state now, investors from America, Europe, China and all over the world are flooding the state for investment.’’
He thanked the president for nominating Prof. Steven Ocheni as a minister designate from Kogi, adding that Ocheni is “a versatile and workaholic’’ professor.
Similarly, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state lauded President Buhari for bringing peace and stability to Nigeria, especially for fighting the insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country.
Ganduje, who equally performed the Jummat prayers at the Presidential Villa together with the president, announced that with restoration of peace, Kano state would be hosting an economic summit to boost socio-economic activities in the state.
“The Economic Summit is coming up on April 24 and we are grateful to Mr. President for bringing peace and stability to Nigeria especially fighting the insurgency in the north eastern part of this country and that is the main hindrance of economic activities especially here in the north.
“So, having attained a high degree of stability now we think it is imperative to open our doors. Kano being the commercial nerve centre of the north and also the commercial nerve-centre of some West African countries.
“So many MoU will be signed. Already we have succeeded in signing a MoU on Kano Economic City which is on now. Already the developers are around. It is a (Private-Public –Partnership) PPP arrangement and also we have synergy with other developers especially in our markets in order to make them modern markets and many other areas.
“We have the issue of light rail which also we are discussing with the Chinese and many other aspects of development especially now that agriculture is being given priority as the answer to the economic development of Nigeria.’’
The governor disclosed that his administration had invested heavily in the agricultural sector and expressed the hope that farmers from the state would now be smiling to the banks.
He said: “We have invested so much in agriculture and we succeeded in convincing our farmers that now it is their time and we are happy, especially those who are producing wheat; those who are producing rice and those who are producing tomatoes.
“We think this is the time that we open for those who are ready to partner with us so that we can move our state forward.’’ (NAN)