From Saka Bolaji, Minna
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has said that the precarious economic condition of the state today was not enough reason to leave a huge debt burden on future generations as doing so will only be tantamount to mortgaging the future of the state.
He said it would not augur well for the future progress and development of the state if the government of the day continued to borrow to execute its projects and pay workers’ salaries, stressing that it was better to be prudent in the management of the meagre resources at its disposal than to go borrowing.
The governor spoke when he received, on a joint solidarity visit, the state chapter of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Market Association, WAZOBIA Association and APC Youth Canvassers at Government House, Minna.
Governor Sani Bello further stated that government was not all about payment of salaries alone, adding that unless the state is contented and manages the little it gets from the federation allocation, it would accumulate a N10 billion debt burden by the end of the year on the payment of salaries alone.
According to him, the administration was able to weather the storm and execute more than 38 projects across the state within one year because of the stringent economic policy put in place as well as the reduction in the cost of governance and blocking of leakages or wastages.
He used the opportunity to formally deny some media reports that the state government intended to cut 70 per cent of workers salary, emphasizing that government was only dialoguing with the organized labour to find a suitable means of sharing the burden in view of dwindling resources accruing to the state.
The governor also hinted at his administration’s readiness to completely overhaul the Chanchaga Water Works in other to make the utility abundantly available to the populace adding that the Interlocking project currently going on in Minna was aimed at engaging and providing the youths with jobs to do.
Governor Sani Bello then assured NURTW and WAZOBIA that the state government will collaborate with the associations, by standing as guarantor for the members of the associations to enable them acquire more cars and tricycles to boost their business.
In their separate remarks, the leaders of NURTW, representatives of APC Canvassers, Market Associations and WAZOBIA Association, said they were in the State House to felicitate with the governor on his one year in office and to associate themselves with the laudable projects that were being executed across the state.
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