I’ll facilitate power rotation for 2019, not scared of Prince Abubakar Audu – Wada

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The governor of Kogi State, Capt Idris Wada had a media interaction with some select journalists in the Government House, Lokoja, where he discussed the politics of the state, his efforts to reposition the state for economic growth and the strides recorded by his government, among other issues.
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Political violence has been a long-time phenomenon in Kogi State. How was your government able to bring it under control?

When I came in; in fact, right from the time of campaign, my body language was quite clear that I do not support violence and that no human being’s life should be sacrificed for anybody’s political ambition. It is not worth any person’s life. And, politics should not be seen as a do-or-die affair where people could be killed to achieve a political aspiration. I believe very strongly that power comes from God; no matter what you want in life, it’s only the one that God grants you that takes place.

Also, only one person can occupy this position (as governor of the state) at a time. Therefore, let’s not fight over it but try to allow the will of the people to come into play. With that body language of zero-tolerance for violence, people saw that there were no sacred cows; people followed the law. I empowered the security agencies. I encouraged them to ensure that people do not get away with crimes and gently, with the cooperation of many security agencies in the state and the political will on our part, people got to understand that we will not tolerate violence and with God helping us, the environment is a bit calmer now.

What is your assessment of the level of development in the state?

As a state, we have done relatively well. Development must be measured against the resources available to a state. The state was created as an amalgamation from Kwara and Benue States. Kogi was an engine room for production of civil servants for the whole of Northern Nigeria in those days.

So, when Kogi was created from Kwara and Benue States, a lot of civil servants came in. So, we were more of a civil-servant state. We inherited a lot civil servants and about 80 per cent of our income goes to payment of salaries and that limits the amount of money available for infrastructure development. So, that explains to you the level of infrastructure development we have because we started almost top-heavy with a lot of liabilities, pensions, civil servants, gratuities, etc.

Since I came in, I have focused on trying to attract investment. We have improved investment greatly. We have signed a lot of Memoradum of Understanding (MoU) with investors to explore the solid mineral resources we have in the state and these take time. They have to do their own capital formation, feasibility studies and be sure that the project will be viable and generate income. It is one thing to have solid mineral, it’s another thing to make it a viable proposition. So, we have set up one stock shop to help people who want to do business in our state. We have attracted some industries and some small scale industries are coming up. We believe that over time, with more industrialisation, our economy will improve.

We have focused on agriculture as an engine for growth, job creation and wealth creation for our people because we have fertile land, rather than depending on federal allocation. We believe that in future, agriculture will be the driver of the economy of Kogi State. And, with more people being employed, our tax income will improve, our over-all income generation will improve and better infrastructure development will follow.

We are also trying to sign strategic partnership with some construction companies for infrastructure development that allows us a long time to pay because we don’t have large chunk of money to undertake big projects. And so, we look at ways of structuring infrastructure development. So, I think we have done fairly well and with these new strategies, in the coming years, our infrastructure profile will improve.

Kogi State governorship election is around the corner. Are you running for a second term?

Yes, I am and I have already collected the form. I have been screened and I am ready for the primaries.

Concerning the governorship election, do you feel intimidated by the strength of opposition and what’s your stand on power shift in the state?

I have already stated that power comes from God. So, I cannot be intimidated by any human being. I will do my best, sell my programmes and development ideas to the people. I will try my best to serve the people well and I hope that they will reflect that in their support for me if I emerge as a candidate for our party for the November election.

With regards to power shift, I believe in power shift. We call it power rotation now; that’s the new terminology our people have invented for it. I believe that the state belongs to all of us and every citizen has the right to lead the state but for me, it is not a state which one man can drive. I can show leadership by expressing my view and supporting all endeavours towards actualising it but it requires continuous engagement of our stakeholders in three senatorial zones; they must engage themselves, discuss about it and work out the modalities.

We must also consider the interest of even the minorities within the major tribes of the state. We are all citizens of Kogi State and all these issues need to be carefully discussed over time. We shouldn’t bring it up only when we are running for governorship election. Let’s start now and work towards 2019, for example.

Do you think you have the capacity to withstand opposition in the state?

I am not going into the election as an individual. I will be going to represent a political party if I, by the grace of God, emerge as the candidate of our political party which is the government in power today in the state. In 2011, we ran against Audu. He was in ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) then; he is a human being. This time, he is also coming on the vehicle of a political party. So, it will be a competition of political parties, not individuals.

What is your reaction to criticisms from the opposition which says you have done nothing?

You should expect that from the opposition. It is natural for the opposition to condemn a sitting government. A sitting government has a lot of things to deal with; opposition has nothing to show. They are not in government. All they have is plans to criticize the government. But in reality, we have done a lot of things. Here in Lokoja, we are building a 16-km by-pass from Otokiti to Ganaja. It has not happened in over 20 years of our existence and it gives us the opportunity to do a lay-out.

We are also building a 500-housing unit here in Lokoja. We are partnering with Korea Development Agency that will train young people on IT, welding, automobile engineering and so on. It is a very modern centre. We just commissioned it about a month and half ago. We also have water projects and we have dug over 300 boreholes across various communities in the state. We have brought electricity to many towns and villages.

We have built five zonal hospitals and we are building a University Teaching Hospital as a tertiary institution at Kogi State University, Ayingba, and so on. So, I believe, based on our record, we have done a lot but don’t expect opposition to praise us because if they praise us, they don’t have any business coming to compete. That’s my view.

Among the things you have done, which one are you most passionate about?

I am most passionate about agriculture because we really want our people to believe in and embrace agriculture. I have signed over 5000 certificates of occupancy (C of Os) for agricultural land and even if I am not there, an automatic machine can sign my signature so as not to delay those who want to farm because farming is related to season. So, I don’t want them to have any form of delay. That’s the level of passion we have for agriculture.

What is the state of Ajaokuta Steel now?

Ajaoukta is a very sad story for our nation. I believe that industrialisation of Nigeria rests on what we do with Ajaokuta Steel. If we don’t make it operational and viable, industrialisation will remain a dream. The immediate past government did a lot in signing partnership agreement with various companies to activate five or six lines. So, my hope and belief is that Mr President would take up the matter and drive it for us so that in the next few years, it will come on line and help the economy of our state and the economy of our country.