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| Gov. Lalong |
My administration is in a hurry to change the fortunes of Plateau
State - Gov. Lalong.
By Joseph A.Adudu
01 November, 2019
The executive governor of Plateau state, Rt. Hon. Simon BakoLalong
has said that his administration was in a hurry to change the fortunes of
Plateau state from a government-dependent economy to one driven by private
entrepreneurship, innovation, productivity and tourism. Lalong said this during
his inauguration of two Committees at Government House, little Rayfield, Jos on
Friday.
The Committees are "Plateau Investment and Economic Summit
Planning Committee" and the "Glorious Stars Planning Committee"
respectively. The governor noted that though he has inaugurated series of
committees, these two were historic for obvious reasons. " This is not the
first time we are inaugurating committees in the state, but this event like I
said is historic for a number of reasons. First, it is coming at a time when we
are rolling out our second term plan and beginning implementation in earnest.
Secondly, the assignments these two committees are expected to handle are
pivotal to actualizing our three- point policy thrust of Peace, Security and
Good Governance; Infrastructural Development and Sustainable Economic Rebirth
", said Lalong. He added that through the two events, his administration
was optimistic that it shall revived the economic fortunes of the state and
provide job opportunities for the people of Plateau in line with the administration’s
“Next Level Vision” focusing on its area of comparative advantage which the
governor said include; agriculture, mining and tourism. The Governor said that
since his reelection, has consistently maintained that the focus during the
final lap of the " Rescue Mission " was to consolidate on the first
term achievement of his administration and leave lasting legacies for the
benefit of the people of Plateau state and the next generation. Gov. Lalong
said that in other to achieved this, his administration has been deliberate and
strategic in its planning process which began with the engagement of the Boston
Consulting Group (BCG), which came up with a 5 year Development plan to guide
the administration.
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| Gov. Lalong in a group photograph with members of the Committees |
According to Gov. Lalong, "shortly after receiving this
report, I appointed Commissioners who have since been chewing this document not
only to understand it, but also own and implement it through their various
ministries, Department and Agencies" Lalong added that the appointees have
also undergone an orientation workshop as well as fully participated in a
Policy Retreat which ended on Thursday at the prestigious National Institute of
Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru. Speaking further, the Governor said
in as much as his administration has been planning and strategizing, the
ability to achieve its objectives would largely depend on its capacity to
generate funds as well as creating the opportunities for people to stimulate
economic growth stressing that this was not possible without opening up the
state to domestic and international investors who can bring in their resources
to tap into the state' s vast unexploited human and material potentials. Lalong
said it was for the reasons stated above that his administration has decided to
host an Economic and Investment Summit which will not only showcase the
business opportunities inherent in Plateau state but also assist rebrand and
repackage Plateau as Home of Peace and Tourism. " We have spent most
of our time in the last four years to restore peace to the state and tackled
crime and criminality. To the glory of God and with cooperation of all citizens
and other stakeholders, we can say we have largely succeeded. Now that we have
attained substantial stability and restored conference, we have to open up to
the world and bring back people who had left Plateau either due to crisis or
other considerations, as well as welcome new people who are eager to come to
the state because of its natural attraction ", said Lalong.
Specifically, Gov. Lalong said the Glorious Star initiative sought
to identify and recognized individuals or groups that have made significant
contributions to the development of Plateau State or have cut their teeth in
the State before eventually shooting to national and international fame.“we
need to recognize and showcase them as examples of what Plateau offered to the
nation and the world. We also desire to use them as ambassadors towards
changing the perception of our state which was negatively affected by past
events we are gradually putting behind us.” Said Lalong.
The Economic and Investment Summit Planning Committee has Prof.
SonniGwanleTyoden, the deputy Governor as Chairman. Its terms of reference is
to organize and plan the investment and economic summit for Plateau state, to
prepare the theme, topics, identify and contact speakers and discussants; to
identify and invite participants including companies and
investors; to make contact with relevant foreign missions, Embassies and
Development Partners for participation in the Summit.
The Glorious Stars Planning Committee is headed by Sir Joseph Ari and its terms of reference is to identify date and venue for the event, bearing in mind the need to dovetail into the Plateau State Economic Summit; to identify those individuals who have made significant contributions in the development of Plateau state; to arrange for the appropriate approach of hosting the event of Glorious Stars with the view to changing the negative narratives of Plateau state in the recent past.
Sir Joseph Ari who responded on behalf of other committee members promised to give their best.
The event was witnessed by all members of the state executive Council, Permanent Secretaries, religious and community leaders.
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