TEXT OF THE INAUGURAL SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON. (DR) SIMON BAKO LALONG, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF PLATEAU STATE, ON THE OCCASION OF INAUGURATION AND SWEARING-IN FOR A SECOND TERM IN OFFICE. HELD AT THE RWANG PAM TOWNSHIP STADIUM ON WEDNESDAY 29TH MAY, 2019.

PROTOCOL

I have the immense honour to stand before you, the great people Plateau of State, today to once again register my deep appreciation for the additional mandate you have given me to run the affairs of our great State for the next four years. By implication, our Inauguration and swearing-in today mark the formal beginning of another four-year democratic journey in our dear State. Today’s Inauguration also marks a new beginning for Plateau State, and reveals the limitless possibilities before all of us. On this occasion, we rise up to celebrate a new beginning and a day we set our course for greater future and prosperity.

This event also opens a new chapter in our march towards Peace, Unity and Progress as it also signals another series of activities and developments, which require all hands to be on deck in realising our collective aspirations in the task of leaving lasting legacies for the benefit of the present and future generations. It has always been my earnest prayer that I shall not disappoint the people of the State who have demonstrated their abiding faith in the APC-led Administration in the State by voting for its candidates massively in the Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections. Since another challenge has been thrown at us, we shall take this great opportunity to make a significant difference in terms of effective delivery on our mandates and fulfilment of our promises. My team and I are once again determined to change the narrative of governance on the Plateau in the next four years.

There is no doubt that the past four years were quite challenging following the trust and responsibility you bestowed on us in May 2015. We remain humbled and indebted to Leadership of our dynamic party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), The Campaign Organization in the State and even more important, YOU, the people who elected us. It is with great reverence that I honour the trust you have bestowed on me, and on behalf of my Deputy, Professor Sonni Gwanle Tyoden, we are truly grateful for the opportunity to serve our people, and vow to work relentlessly to prove worthy of this great honour that you have granted us.

Four years seem to have passed away rather quickly, but the period should be defined more by what the Government has done and the need for continuity and consolidation in providing the people of Plateau State with more dividends of democracy.

In the victory and acceptance speech delivered on 24 March 2019, commemorating our re-election, I extended a hand of friendship to the opposition parties, and humbly submitted that our re-election should be seen as victory for all, believing that there was “No Victor, No Vanquished” in the contest. We should all put our hands together to build a greater Plateau State, where we can celebrate our diversity in peace and secure justice and progress for all our people.

At the beginning of my first term of office in 2015, we identified our mission statement as the “Rescue Mission”, designed to restore confidence in a State that had been polarized and fractured by ethno-religious crises, political apathy, low morale among the civil servants and a sense of despondency among retirees, most of who went for several months without Salaries and Pensions. To address the pertinent issues within the framework of the Rescue Mission, we came up with five-policy thrusts, which were vigorously pursued within the limited resources at our disposal, namely,

    • Peace, Security and Good Governance;
    • Human Capital Development and Social Welfare;
    • Agriculture and Rural Development;
    • Entrepreneurship and Industrialization; and
    • Physical Infrastructure and Environment

Nevertheless, the path from 2015 to 2019 had not been without challenges, particularly in the area of security, because sporadic attacks on communities occurred in some Local Government Areas, notably Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Jos South and Riyom. These attacks have led to deaths and displacements of people, destruction of houses, crops and livestock and mutual mistrust among community residents. We continue to sympathize with the family and pray for the repose of the Souls of the Faithful departed. However, in line with our robust policy of ensuring peace, Government did not relent in its efforts. We promptly responded to these challenges the best way we could by boosting security in the troubled areas and setting up Operational Security Bases in synergy with the Federal Government. We also introduced confidence-building measures and Roadmap to Peace, especially through the Plateau Peace Building Agency and stakeholders’ meetings. I had also signed into law various legislations dealing with Administration of Criminal Justice, making it possible to decide certain cases in the State rather than taking them elsewhere.

In terms of Human Capital Development, the Education, Health and Agricultural sectors have benefitted immensely from Government interventions, as detailed in my previous speeches. Thus, the huge debts and unpaid salaries and pensions were cleared, while we have substantially reduced the debt profile of the State through prudent use of allocated funds and internally Generated Funds.

The hallmark of good governance is financial prudence, fairness, transparency, justice and humanitarian concerns for the citizens. To this end, the Government embraced the policy of fiscal discipline, by keying into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and broadening our tax base. The TSA enabled us to monitor revenue inflows and expenditure outflows; thereby ensuring prudence, diligence and accountability in all our financial dealings. The creation of the Efficiency Unit ensured blockage of leakages, leading to huge savings over the years.

Throughout this political journey, our successes wouldn’t have been possible without the loyalty, cooperation and untiring efforts of the Deputy Governor, Commissioners, Top Government Functionaries, Special Advisers, Permanent Secretaries and the entire Civil Service. WE are profoundly gratitude to all these patriotic officers.

The next four years will be devoted to consolidating the gains already made and expanding more areas of development for the benefit of Plateau people.

A NEW VISION

In my previous speeches marking Democracy Day celebrations and on other occasions since 2015, I have endeavoured to highlight some of our modest achievements for the good of the State and the challenges we faced. Fellow Citizens, as you are aware, in line with the decision to celebrate June 12th as Democracy Day, we desire to do ours in a special way. On this special day, I shall unveil the vision and programmes of the government for the period 2019 to 2023 through a Town Hall Meeting. This will be followed by Panel Discussion on Democracy in Plateau State from 2015 to 2019 and the way forward in the next four years. However, as a tip of the iceberg, while we hope to consolidate on our gains and achievements, in the light of increasing demands and development priorities amidst resource challenges, it is imperative to review and fine-tune some of the policy thrusts into a New Normal and more result-oriented and robust package of deliverables.

We shall strive to inject new ideas or paradigm into our governance efforts. This paradigm will hopefully find expression in Religious Humanism. Governance is a two-way traffic, involving a social contract of duties and obligations between the government and the governed. Good Governance presupposes loyalty, hard work, effective service delivery, and leaving behind a legacy worthy of emulation by subsequent generations.

Our Humanism will be based on the principles that people need freedom and self-determination; that people should be respected and held in high esteem, rather than means of negative governmental action; that people are fundamentally social in nature and therefore value or cherish community life. Above all, people have a right to seek truth and oppose authoritarian rule. These ideas of liberty, human rights, democracy, and public scrutiny of opinion and governmental actions are essential to the smooth functioning of society. We must therefore learn to form communities that respect human life and tolerate differences to avert the embers of hate and fanaticism.

Our vision for the new Plateau State promises to leave behind legacies of our commonality, human dignity and welfare. While as a Government we shall strive to meet our own side of the social bargain, we equally expect the good people of Plateau State to reciprocate Government gesture, not only by giving their unalloyed support, but, more importantly, by learning to live in peace with one another so that together we can achieve the much desired development. We should recognize that corruption, dishonesty, disloyalty, rumour-mongering, fake news, religious and political fanaticism, ethnic jingoism, violence, and other forms of social evil are against our vision of the new Plateau, and must be avoided.

A critical policy this administration developed and embraced is the concept of “Forgiveness”. Apart from our reconciliation moves and breaking the cycle of violence, which has engulfed our beloved state for close to two decades, we recently launched the “FORGIVENESS DAY” to be marked every February 7, 2019. This is a day we have set aside to reflect on our journey as a people and having in mind the various crises that have bedevilled our dear state. This day will always be a day to chart a new path and rewrite our narratives and celebrate our taking the path of forgiveness in line with our different religious injunctions.

With this Philosophy, our winning points will continue to be the insistence on impartiality, neutrality and fairness to all concerned, regardless of ethnic, religious and political affinities. Plateau is a State with diverse ethnicities. I therefore assure all and sundry of holding on to our policy of inclusiveness and get everybody in different position of responsibility to do the needful. In this way, we would have justified earning the votes and confidence of the people. We would have also justified accepting the mandate to serve with all the humility and affirmation to move the people and state to the Next Level.

PREROGATIVE OF MERCY AND STATE PARDON.

As a mark of our appreciation and thanksgiving to God for the guidance, protection and successes recorded, and in exercise of the powers conferred on me as Governor in Section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), after due consultation with the State Advisory Council On Prerogative Of Mercy, I have granted Prerogative of Mercy to one (1) Prisoner, Mr. Evaristus C. Mozie from life imprisonment to absolute pardon. This Pardon is granted for reasons of good conduct and determination to continue to be productive, with effect from the date of sentence.

CONCLUSION

I cannot conclude this speech without talking about some core values to which we shall remain committed. We shall continue to espouse the core values of peace, unity, mutual respect, hospitality and progress, while striving to go beyond these by channelling the energies, and building the skills, competencies and capacities of our Women and Youth. I therefore implore all Government functionaries and citizens to embrace the age-long philosophy of “Think Plateau, Act Plateau” as a solemn orientation to preserve the Plateau core values towards industry and enterprise in productive ventures and self-reliance. Our strengths indeed lie in our diversity. I pledge that this Administration will continue to serve diligently towards achieving our set goals.

Finally, while assuring you of exhibiting duty of care within the governance arena, and in this second term of office, we shall also strive as leaders to be role models of being in the world with you and not over or against you, the people. This is our solemn commitment.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I sincerely thank all of you for turning out en-masse to grace this epoch-making event.

God Bless Plateau State.
God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Thank you and God bless.

RT. HON. (DR) SIMON BAKO LALONG.
EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR.

Wednesday, 29th May 2019.

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Inaugural Speech by Gov. Lalong on the Occasion of His Swearing In