The Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has promised to leave the state in better form than when he assumed office.
While hosting a group of Jaji students from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College who were in the state for an educational tour on Monday, he made the announcement.
Bello acknowledged that his skillful use of the state's resources was the cause of the enormous advancements made during his administration.
He continued by saying that the study tour issue was pertinent and current for the country and that he had been honest in his leadership, prioritising the welfare of the populace over his own financial gain.
While admitting that he had taken over a state that was deeply split along ethnic and other prosaic lines, he was pleased to report that his administration had delivered a significant blow to insecurity and other maladministration related to governance.
He added that the public could link government spending to his actions thanks to the openness with which he has handled the state’s finances and that this has resulted in a more well-informed populace.
Although describing the state as diverse, Bello credited his administration’s inclusion of a large number of youths and women from that generation with helping to lessen tension and acrimony in the state.
He said that by providing them with productive employment through various social intervention programmes, he had united the state’s demographics behind the young people who are now running the show.
The governor claimed that unlike in the past, when young people in the state were pushed to the background, his administration has made them a driving force behind its development and prosperity.
While noting that the nation’s youth are responsible for most of the problems it faces, he boasted that his government had broken down socioeconomic boundaries by including students and children of the poor and promised to leave the state in better shape than he had found it.
In addition, he emphasised the significance of the team’s trip to Kogi state, noting that the state is rich in both human and natural resources and that more than 85% of its residents commute to and from the state every day without incident.
The governor of Kogi state said the state required special attention because of its strategic location, noting that the recent floods had blocked off access to the state from the North and South, which hurt the country’s socioeconomic operations.
Air Vice Marshall Anthony Oluwarotimi, Tuwase Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, made an opening statement in which he explained that the team was visiting the state to gain firsthand knowledge of its economic development, income, employment status, poverty, inequality, wealth, agriculture, and overall transformation.
He praised the state government for improving the people’s economic and social conditions. He explained that the purpose of the trip was to learn about youth unemployment and national security in Nigeria so that he could make policy recommendations to empower young people there.
In addition, he lauded governor Bello’s successes in creating opportunities for young people in the areas of employment, education, health, agriculture, funding governance, infrastructure, human capital development, entrepreneurship, youth engagement, and security, all of which he said, make the state an educational laboratory for the research team.
Air Vice Marshall Anthony, who oversaw the creation of the tour to educate the middle-class members of the armed services, stated that its goals include preparing the officers to handle higher jobs and acquainting the pupils with socioeconomic concerns impacting the state.
In a similar vein, he explained that the tour’s ultimate goal is to give the students a firsthand look at life in Kogi state under Gov. Bello’s leadership so that they can evaluate the information they’ve been given, assess the state’s unique challenges in comparison to those of other states, and ultimately contribute to the development of a research paper aimed at bolstering safety there.
Air Vice Marshall Anthony expressed his condolences to the people of the state during the recent flood and praised the state’s government for its swift response and subsequent measures to lessen the damage.
The team’s leader, Brigadier General M. Isah, Director of Administration at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, has stated that he has a soft spot for Kogi state and that they are conducting serious research in the area of youth unemployment and Nigerian national security while they are there.
He mentioned that out of eight teams touring the country simultaneously, his consisted of 73 students representing the academic, administrative, student, and supporting personnel.