Kwara State
Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has told kwarans that he feels the pain and
hardship the people are going through as a result of current national economic
downturn.
“I’m
concerned; I’m touched. I feel more than you feel because I’m supposed to make
you happy and comfortable, even if it means making myself uncomfortable”,
Governor Ahmed said.
Governor
Ahmed, who said this in Ilorin when he received the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim
Sulu Gambari CFR, said contractors engaged by the state government have been
mobilised with a sum N1.7b in line with its resolve to cushion effects of the
economic recession through enhanced infrastructure development in the State.
The Governor
assured the people that the state government’s newly introduced Kwara
Infrastructure Fund would ensure that contractors who queue into the programme
are henceforth paid quarterly upon certification of the quality of their works.
According to Governor
Ahmed, the newly procured asphalt plants by the government would soon be
commissioned “all bad roads across the state would soon be fixed while new
ones constructed”.
On mass
transportation and health, Dr Ahmed said 12 luxurious buses are being procured
to ply major roads across the state while accessing N700m would be accessed from
the World Bank that would be channeled into primary healthcare to carter for
mothers and children.
The Governor
who attributed the increase in the execution of projects to a reduction in the
cost of governance by 40 percent, gave an assurance that the state government
would create more jobs, rather than sack workers.
Earlier, the
Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr) Gambari who called on Nigerians to “pray for the
success of our leaders as their actions or in actions will impact on the
general well being of the citizenry”, advised government to pay more attention
to agriculture in order to ensure sustainable food security in the country.