Date: 2012-02-03

Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has identified inconsistency in government policies as responsible for Nigeria’s slow pace of growth and development.
 
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a 2-day Interactive Session between the State Government and the organized Private Sector in Ilorin, Governor Ahmed, while recognizing the fact that the resources were scarce in the face of competing demands, said there must be a road map under which resources would be allocated to projects in order of priority.
 
According to him, it was in recognition of this that the State government at inception in May 2011 convened a 3-day retreat in Lagos to fine tune a four-year rolling plan for the new administration with a view to creating an enabling environment for private sector participation.
 
The interactive session, which was organized by the office of the Special Assistant on New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), has as its theme: "Understanding and Improving Public-Private-Participation - the issues arising".
 
Alhaji Ahmed told participants at the interactive session that his administration at inception identified key critical areas to evolve policies, making special reference to emphasis on human capital development especially in the area of provision of primary and secondary health-care services.
 
The State government, according to the governor, evolved policies under the medium term sector strategy such as the policy on water supply with respect to the 500 metres radius to access water, education reform agenda, resuscitation of vocational training centres and technical colleges as well as the proposed establishment of an International Vocational Institute at Ajasse-Ipo, among others.
 
He also disclosed that the State government has identified maize, soya beans, rice and cassava as four core crops to be cultivated in large scale in the State to enhance food security across the country.
 
Governor Ahmed, who urged the private sector to ensure that they create an enabling environment for Public-Private-Partnership to thrive, also advocated measurable deliverables in the Civil Service to redefine government business.
 
On the issue of security, he said it was the responsibility of all to ensure a secured environment, pointing out that no prospective investor would be willing to invest his money in an unsecured environment.
 
Alhaji Ahmed also spoke of the intention of the State Government to sponsor a bill to the State House of Assembly on local content involvement on development to enforce local participation of entrepreneurs in developing the economy.

03/02/2012