captain wada kogi

In 2011 when the duo of Capt. Idris Wada and Arch. Abayomi Awoniyi emerged as candidate and running mate in that year’s governorship election in Kogi State, that foray triggered optimism and high expectations. One thing that buoyed the hope of people in the People’s Democratic Party ticket was the level of academic attainment of the candidates. For the first time since the creation of the state from former Kwara and Benue states more than two decades ago, university graduates were being elected into the foremost office in the state.

While Wada is a world class aviator with a complimentary Master in Business Administration from the prestigious University of Abuja, Awoniyi is a reputable architect with an additional Master of Science in Urban Development Planning from the University College, London. It is now three years down the lane, since the men got into the saddle in the Confluence State and the electorate are taking stock returning a verdict of good performance. In the areas of agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and human capital development, the Wada administration has traversed the length and breadth of Kogi State like a colossus stamping its footprints on the sand of time. Let us consider a few records.

Immediately he assumed office as Governor in January 2012, Wada did not disguise the direction of his agricultural policies. By his speeches, body language and action, the new governor preached the good news of agricultural transformation in the state. He reiterated in public and private discussions his conviction that agriculture is the surest and shortest route to economic recovery and well-being in the state.

An opportunity to demonstrate this conviction was early in coming. That was when the state was ravaged by massive flood between September and November 2012. After successfully managing the disaster, the government converted it to a blessing. The entire flood plain covering Nine Local Councils was used for planting rice in an accelerated production program. Thousands of idle hands of youths were meaningfully engaged on the farms. That was the source of the thousands of bags of Kogi Rice that soon adorned major markets in and outside the state. The Accelerated Rice Project which is  in its second planting season has since become a reference point by the federal ministry of agriculture and among other states.

In a related development, a staple crop free processing zone was declared at Alape in Kabba-Bunu Local Government of the state. Speaking on the initiative, the Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina described it as the first fully mechanized farm in Nigeria. As at the beginning of last year, more than 200 hectares have been cleared and planted with cassava. The final dream is 1,500 hectares. The project is in partnership with an American food processing company, Kagyl International which will produce starch, sweetener, flours and other food items from the farm. The Agriculture Transformation Agenda also encompass provision of soft loans and regular farm inputs to farmers.

In the event of an illness, farmers are among beneficiaries in the free health care program of the state. Under the initiative, seasoned medical team comprising of surgeons, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and other health care support personnel visit each of the 21 local councils for minimum of one week every three months to provide free health care services. Surgeries are performed and medications are provided without collecting a dime from the patient. To show sensitivity to the mood of the time on public health issues, the program was suspended at the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease.

Thousands of people have been treated and healed under the policy. The administration has also made tremendous progress in its determination to improve healthcare infrastructure in the state: a diagnostic and referral centre is being constructed at the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja; a Cottage Hospital is near completion at Odu- Ogboyaga in Dekina Local Government;  another has been completed in Icheke, Omalla Local Government Area. General Hospitals are being renovated in all the 21 Local Councils and Primary Health Centres are being constructed all over the Confluence State.

Education is the most virile industry in the state. New areas of learning are being introduced in the tertiary institutions in the state. In the state University at Anyigba, faculties of Education and Medical Sciences complete with a new Teaching Hospital have taken off. In Kogi State Polytechnic, Environmental Studies and Space Science have been introduced. The administration in conjunction with the government of South Korea has also established an International Skills Acquisition Center in the Polytechnic. The center is ready for commissioning and due to commence full operation soon. Hostels have also been built at the polytechnic and university.

In its zeal to bring development to the grassroots, the Wada administration has constructed several roads and bridges. Work has started on a bypass from Ganaja in Ajaokuta Local Government to Otokiti in the state capital. The double lane road is planned as an alternate route for travelers to the eastern part of the state, thereby reducing the heavy traffic in parts of the metropolis. Close to the Ganaja terminal of the road, is an on-going 500 Housing Units project being constructed for civil servants in the state. And to improve the revenue base of the state, the Governor has started work on a Twelve story Kogi House building in the heart of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.

The administration has electrified more than three hundred communities. At a single ceremony on Friday 22 August, the governor inaugurated 160 transformers for distribution to deserving communities.

That is not all. The government has introduced a pilot Confluence metro with about fifteen Ashok Leyland Luxury Buses to boost public transportation in the state capital. With time, the scheme is intended to cover the entire state and other parts of Nigeria. To make the initiative durable and convenient to run, the government has awarded contract for the expansion of the major road in Lokoja to three lane dual carriage way. The road runs from “Welcome to Lokoja Round About through the town, down to the Confluence International Market on Abuja Road.

Many motorized boreholes and Water treatment packages have been commissioned by the administration. Perhaps the flagship of the Governor’s achievement in the area of human capital development is in the restoration of discipline, integrity and hard work among the youths and in the daily running of government business. In the same vein, the administration has established a culture of regular payment of salaries, wages and allowances to the state work force.

Without mincing words, the gains of the transformation agenda of the Capt Wada administration is still counting with the people expecting that in few years to come the state attains its desired place among committee of developed states.

Richard Elesho and Micheal Abu work as press secretaries to the governor and deputy governor respectively.

By Richard Elesho and Mike Abu


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