Prince Abubakar Audu is the
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC and served as governor twice
between 1992 and 1993 and again between 1993 and 2003. Audu declared recently
that he has intellectual and physical capacity to restore what he described as
the lost glory of the state following what he claims as the destruction of the
legacy projects he left behind 12 years ago.
Abubakar Audu
What
I did between 1999 and 2003, was to initiate a scheme where unemployed youths
were placed on some kind of monthly allowances through our youths empowerment
programme.
As
a matter of fact, it was as a result of the choking level of unemployment in
the state that made me to initiate the Obajana cement project. According to the
agreement we entered into with foreign investors, Obajana cement factory
would employ 15,000 workers. We also had a written agreement that out of that
number, 13,000 workers must be indigenes of Kogi state, while the remaining
2,000 could come from anywhere in Nigeria.
I
don’t think that the previous administrations have taken the trouble of
studying the agreement. By the grace of God, when I return back to office, I am
going to dust up that agreement and ensure that the right thing is done.
The
right thing is getting 13,000 jobless young men employed in Obajana cement
factory. That would certainly reduce the pressure on the government. I also
have plans to apply to the federal government to grant concessions for us to
run the Ajaokuta Steel Company. When the steel company becomes operational, it
will be producing billets for local use and iron rods for exports. That was the
plan I had when I built the road from Lokoja to Ajaokuta.
There
are several byeproducts of Ajaokuta Steel that will feed small scale industries
and stimulate the economy. That will also reduce the pressure on the labour
market. We have plans to boost agriculture. We wanted to bring in farmers from
Zimbabwe and South Africa to embark on large mechanized farming.
Our
ultimate goal is to make Kogi state have enough to feed the entire nation as
well as for export. When that is achieved, it will again go a long way to
reduce the pressure on the labour market. Such initiatives will provide our
youths with so many opportunities.
What will
he do differently when he gets back to Lugard House
I
have done it before differently. When I get back, it will be a complete
re-enactment of what I did before and we will also try to improve on it. During
my administration, Kogi was the fastest developing state in Nigeria. When all
the 36 governors were assessed, we were number one in terms of performance in
various sectors, especially with regards to infrastructural provisions. Our
performance is going be to more advanced. I have reflected on the
problems that our people are confronted with and by the grace of God, we have
the solutions on our hands. My administration, like I mentioned
earlier was able to put so much on the ground for the
benefit of our people despite the meager resource at our disposal at that time.
When I get to Lugard by the grace of God, I shall ensure that our
state is lifted to greater height of social and economic
advancement.
Source: Vanguard
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