In this piece, Mr Mark Longyen, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, takes a look at the Governor’s efforts aimed at turning around the fortunes of the state, following its dwindling finances, and against the backdrop of a recent retreat held for the state’s cabinet and other key appointees held at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, near Jos.

Not a few observers are of the view that Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has an unenviable task of trying to turn around the fortunes of the state at this moment when its financial challenges are seemingly insurmountable, especially in the face of a continuous dwindling federation allocation and poor internal revenue generation.

Their concern is further reinforced by the fact that, ab initio, upon assumption of office, skeptics did not give the governor the chance to successfully weather the storm because he inherited what can best be described as a near failed state from his predecessor, as virtually every sector had collapsed.

According to them, the implementation of Lalong’s 5 Point Agenda is an effort that was dead on arrival, as his predecessor bequeathed to him a state that had over the years been also enmeshed in an open-ended seemingly dog-eat-dog ethno-religious shindig; an unprecedented staggering debt burden of N222.3 billion; and an empty treasury – something akin to a patient on intensive care in hospital.

The Governor’s 5 Point Policy Thrust include:

1. Peace, Security and Good Governance

2. Human Capital Development and Social Welfare

3. Agriculture and Rural Development

4. Entrepreneurship and Industrialization

5. Physical Infrastructure and Environment.

The situation was worsened by the fact that many multi-billion naira projects executed by the last administration were uncompleted, while critical sectors like education, health, solid minerals, tourism, agriculture, human capital, among others, were either in a comatose state or had collapsed completely.

The Governor also inherited unpaid arrears of salaries of civil servants, pensioners’ pension arrears, as well as the non-payment of the salaries of teachers in the state’s public schools, many of which had been on strike for nearly one year.

Distinguished Senator Ibrahim Mantu, a former Deputy Senate President and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, while expressing his view on the financial quagmire and other challenges that were staring Governor Lalong in the face, at a recent stakeholders meeting, said he pitied the governor and wondered if the Governor was aware of the enormity of the problems that the state was facing before picking his nomination form to run for the office.

Mantu told the large gathering of Plateau Stake stakeholders cutting across party, ethnic and religious divides that he was very sure that the governor would not have an opponent to challenge him for the seat, should he contest for a second term in 2019, given the innumerable problems to tackle, which made the office unattractive.

He, however, noted that since the governor had within a record time of six months succeeded in bringing about relative peace and unity in the state, which is the first point in his five point agenda, even if that turned out to be his only achievement, the Governor would deserve a pat on the back, given that peace and security were sine qua non for achieving the other four policy thrusts.

However, not one that is lily-livered to be deterred by any kind of challenge on his path to success in life, Governor Lalong, a lawyer and ex-Speaker of the state legislature for seven years, has got down to brass tacks, formed his cabinet, comprising the best professionals that one could get from the state, such as lawyers, architects, accountants, doctors, engineers, teachers, administrators and political juggernauts.

The Governor, in collaboration with German International Cooperation group, GIZ, the Jos Business School and H. Pierson, a consultancy firm, organized a 4-day retreat for his cabinet, as well as other key appointees at the prestigious National Institute, NIPSS, stressing that the ideas generated from the retreat would be used to serve as an impetus for the governance of the state.

The Retreat entitled: “Delivering effective Service in an era of Dwindling Resources,’’ which held between February 1- February 4, attracted resource persons from the Federal Executive Council, respected religious leaders, technocrats, development partners anti-corruption and security agencies.

Declaring the retreat open, Gov. Lalong said: “We have already put in place strategic initiatives and programs with short and medium term solutions for the actualization of our 5 point policy thrust, which will be unveiled in this retreat.

“I will be expecting your updated implementation strategy that will accelerate government efforts in addressing governmental and many other social challenges demanding urgent attention of government in the state.

‘’All political appointees in this rescue government must, therefore, start the process of critical thinking on the immediate issues that need attention in their Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

“I must emphasize that discipline, financial management, dedication to duty, sound leadership and strategic implementation of programs and actions are necessary ingredients for success”.

Mr Rufus Bature, the Secretary to the State Government, on his part, while welcoming the participants and resource persons, said there was an urgent need to boost the state’s internally generated revenue in the face of the dwindling resources of the state.

Mr Rotimi Amaechi , the Minister for Transport, while drawing from his experience as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and later Governor for eight years, respectively, noted that a cordial working relationship between the executive and legislature in a state was strategic for any meaningful development to take place in the state.

Amaechi, therefore, admonished the members of the state executive council to respect the legislative arm of government and transparently carry the House of Assembly along in all their activities to avoid any friction between the two arms in order for the state to make progress.

Professor Dakas CJ Dakas, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Jos, noted in his contribution that peace and security were the bedrock for any meaningful development to take place in Plateau State, stressing that the Lalong administration must do everything possible to maintain the relative peace it had built.

Speaking on the topic: “The Economy of Plateau State in the New Normal,’’ Mr Ezekiel Gomos, a former SSG, Plateau State and CEO of the Jos Business School, noted that the Plateau State Government “must come to terms with the reality that it must look inwards for alternative ways of generating internal revenue.’’

Gomos, who took time to paint a grim, graphic picture of the state’s economy, its potentials, opportunities, strategies and solutions available, stressed that “dwindling receipts from the federation account’s oil wealth will continue unless war breaks out in the Middle-East or Russia to inadvertently warrant an upward push in global oil prices.’’

Also speaking on the topic: “Financing State Development in an era of declining federal allocation,’’ the trio of Mr Lanre Bankole of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Generation Service, Mr Obadiah Tohomdet of the World Bank, and Dr Patrick Dakum of the Human Virology Centre, in a panel discussion, took turns to examine ways for the state to seek alternative ways of financing its projects and programs from donor agencies.

The panelists were of the consensus that the state could do this by leveraging on multi-lateral agencies and linkages with development agencies and NGOs, in addition to boosting IGR.

The participants, at the end of the retreat, made a tripartite declaration tagged the RESCUE GOVERNMENT DECLARATION as follows, that:

1. Members of the State Executive Council will be committed to, and be driven by, the fear of God, accountability, integrity, innovation and harmonious co-existence of the people of the state.

2. Members of the State Executive Council will strive to offer selfless and effective service to the people, even in the face of dwindling resources.

3. Members of the State Executive Council will remain focused on the development of the state in line with the 5 Point Policy Thrust of the Rescue Administration.

The communiqué reads:

“After extensive interactions and deliberations, the Retreat resolved that:

a) In view of dwindling resources and receipts from the Federation Account, government agencies must look inward to expand the sources and amount of Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, of the state.

b) Three key areas of comparative advantage, namely, Agriculture, Tourism and Mining, be focused on and investments intensified to create employment and boost its revenue base for sustainable development.

c) Government will continue to work and improve its collaboration with development partners and multi-lateral agencies for the common good.

d) Education, Agriculture and Health sectors, which are key elements to the development of the state and welfare of the people, have been neglected for long; and to arrest the continuous decay, a total overhaul is imperative.

e) To succeed in the implementation of the 5 Point Policy Thrust, we will work towards a robust and harmonious relationship between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.

f) The role of the civil service in the delivery of the 5 Point Policy Thrust is critical, therefore, the reform of its processes and procedures, becomes imperative.

g) All MDAs must leverage on the use of ICT in order to improve the productivity of the workforce and build a knowledge-based economy.

h) Peace and security, being the bedrock of any meaningful development, government will continue to work in partnership with, and support all relevant security agencies, NGOs and communities involved in peace-building process in the state.’’

A plethora of analysts and experts, therefore, hold the view that with the declaration made and the communiqué issued, if the resolutions of the retreat are implemented to the letter, Governor Lalong will no doubt succeed in his rescue mission, prove skeptics wrong and by far surpass the expectations of many.

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Gov. Lalong’s Burden of Delivering Effective Service with Dwindling Resources – Mark Longyen