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| Gov Lalong |
PLATEAU’S LEGACY OF PEACE, PROSPERITY
By Yakubu Dati
At
the inauguration of the Governor Simon Bako Lalong led administration in
Plateau State, the governor made it clear that his government is coming with a
clear vision for the development of the state and would, as a matter of
priority concentrate on five areas which policy has been termed the 5- Point
Policy Thrust.
These
are peace, security and good governance; human capital development and
social welfare; agriculture and rural development; entrepreneurship and
industrialization; and physical infrastructure and environment. After about 33
months in office, it would suffice to say that progress have been made in these
core areas that are beginning to define the current administration in Plateau
State. It is common knowledge that the current administration inherited a state
which psyche has been assaulted by an avalanche of crises and which needed
healing to get back on track.
Taking
serious the fact that without peace there cannot be meaningful development, the
current administration immediately set out to work out Strategies that would
ensure a lasting peace in the state. Part of the strategies devised was to put
in place an inclusive government, that gives every section of the state a sense
of belonging as part of the problems of the past it was observed, was the
feeling of alienation by certain parts of the state. This policy made it
imperative not to unnecessarily malign a particular section but to take
everybody along in the scheme of things in terms of project allocation and
appointments for the mutual benefit of all citizens of the state.
Having
achieved that, the government realized that to go side by side with this policy
of an all inclusive government is to pursue dialogue with warring communities
and find out what exactly was the sore point that has made it difficult for
people to line together and work proactively towards resolving such issues. The
dialogue proved useful as communities began to express their minds and let out
long bottled up grievances which were on the verge of exploding. The result is
that communities that were in the past as no go areas for some citizens are now
open and have become melting point of social and economic activities. It
then became clear to the government that the issue of peace and continuous
dialogue with communities to understand their grievances is a wholesome task
and cannot be done in piece meal if effective results are to be achieved,
The
need for a body with the primary responsibility to pursue that task the dawned
on the government and that was when the Plateau Peace Building Agency was
established. The establishment of the agency has underlined the seriousness
with which the Lalong government is taking the issue of peace.
All
these efforts restored confidence among the ethnic nationalities living on the
Plateau and rekindled hope on the possibility of having a peaceful state built
on the foundation of equity and social justice and brought out the best in
these citizens. The state government also moved swiftly to resolve boundary
issues within and outside the state. Still in the bid to ensure peace, the
state government also adopted a different approach in its relationship with the
central government and chose not to be antagonistic but work in synergy with the
Federal Government in providing logistical support to security agencies. All of
a sudden, the image of Plateau as a crisis prone state with belligerent leaders
who are hostile to support from external forces began to give way and the
governor began to have unlimited access the central government in Abuja which
has influenced a lot of things in the state.
In
no time, focus shifted back to Jos and activities of the federal government and
its agencies and parastatals which were taken out of Jos began to reoccur. Social
life began to return to Jos and other towns in the state with an increase in recreational activities to the
extent that Jos is regaining its glory as a tourism destination,
attracting conferences and boosting economic activities for its people and
government, Much as all these goals have begun to redefine the concept of good
governance in the state and have driven away the tension and apprehension in
matters concerning the state, the government felt there was a need to do an
introspection and work on any loophole that could cause ill feeling or de-motivate
its work force and it almost immediately set machinery in motion to
ensure prompt payments of salaries.
The
issue of nonpayment of salaries to the civil servants had lingered for long and
had continued to cause embarrassment to the state government not to talk of the
untold hardships to the citizenry and its implication to the socio-economic
well being of the state. The security implication of continually pauperizing
the citizenry was also not lost on the government and the governor decided that
as one of the first set of remedies he is going to put in place would be
ensuring the welfare of its workforce because, as they say, charity begins at
home.
The
Lalong administration thereby resisted the temptation to use the scarce
resources of the state on some egotistical ventures and decided to put to good
use payments from the Paris Club bail-out funds and overdraft. The government
did not also close its eyes to the financial implication of having a debt
overhang of N220billion inherited from the previous administration. This has
crippled many enterprises and small scale businesses as contractors were not
being paid and there was little money in circulation to patronize these
businesses. The government set to work huge sums to defray the liability
through salary payments and contractual obligations, amongst others.
These
have indeed injected life into the state and Plateau, known as the beautiful,
is reliving its essence as vibrant social economic hub of northern Nigeria.
To
be concluded.
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