The fact that Simon Lalong has performed beyond the expectations of many, is no secret. At the inception of his administration, many wrote him off, saying he had very little chance of success –because of a perception that he has a free-for-all and a lax attitude. Well, as at February 2017, the public perception of his leadership amongst Plateau citizens indicates a good and healthy approval rating –greater 60%.

The reasons for his relative successes are a combination of factors, including (a) good fortune (b) serendipity and (c) good political dexterity/nous. Below are short explanations of how these factors have combined to bolster and transform his public image/perception.

• Good fortune: Tranches of money from the N75 billion Paris Debt Club refund which was handed to Lalong, single-handedly transformed the fortunes of Plateau from a “broke” and financially desperate state, into a somewhat thriving one. In fact, Lalong’s public perception, which was at rock bottom in the early half of his term (because of the inability to pay worker’s salaries), has been completely transformed. Instead of being called “one-term-governor” as he was hitherto referred to, he is now being hailed as the “governor bank alert” –a reference to clearing of the salary backlog of the past few years.

• Political dexterity/Nous: Since his election, Lalong cleverly deployed a strategy to decimate and pillage the ranks of PDP (through defections). Starting at the House of Assembly – he succeeded in wooing and  turning a majority PDP House into now a majority APC House. Also, several key politicians with tangible electoral value left the PDP to pitch tents with him on the other side. In addition to this, the internal leadership strife and conflict within the PDP party has meant the PDP continues to fight itself and therefore not focusing on the APC –giving Lalong a smooth sail.

The factors above have meant that in the time since Lalong’s swearing in, he has scored many gains –for instance, he succeeded in clearing the salary backlog of many years, Improved the conflict situation in Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos etc and has started to complete key infrastructure projects in the state.

The crux of my article is however not on the other achievements, but on this latter point of infrastructural projects.

The last few infrastructure contracts awarded by the Plateau State Government, saw the overlooking of our indigenous contractors for the usual suspects i.e., Lagos based firms, River state based firms and the Chinese.  Consider the last few contracts awarded below:

• 1.8 Billion contract to Jolex Nig Ltd (a Lagos based company led by Chinedu Okonwa) for construction of Tudun Wada to Mado village).
• 1.7 Billion road contract to China’s ChinaZhonghao for the construction of Dutse Uku, Chwelnyap and Tina Junction roads.
• 1.5 Billion Contract to Letokem Nig Ltd, for the construction of the Angwan Rogo to Ali Kazaure roads
• SUBEB Contracts for renovation of class rooms (Tender reference: FB No.: IFB/SUBEB/UBEC/NCB/001/2016) –awarded to a few firms from Port-Harcourt and other states.

Now, I must state that the important objective of any infrastructure project is that the job goes to the best person irrespective of where they are from, but it beggars belief that none of our own indigenous contractors are ever found worthy of executing even the smallest of these contracts. Imagine for instance the renovation of class-rooms by SUBEB –even a collection of youths from the “Plateau Youth Council” (PYC) can undertake this work. Why then do these contract continually get awarded to cronies and firms outsides the state? Do we not realise that we need to empower our people, companies, firms and institutions in order to have a thriving society?

By my estimation –a N1.8 billion road contract will typically require approx. 350 full time employed personnel for execution. This will include project managers, project coordinators, surveyors, civil engineers, draughtsmen, accountants, clerical staff, building engineers, labourers, diggers etc. As such for each of these projects awarded not to a Plateau man, but to a Lagos, Port-Harcourt or Chinese firm, the bulk of the personnel employed will be from those areas. And what that means unfortunately for Plateau is that our youth will not benefit from the value of the such projects. Instead, someone say in Lagos or Port-Harcourt gets that massive pay cheque from the contract execution and he pays his income tax in say Lagos, ultimately growing that economy to the detriment of our own economy –how ridiculous. Also, what our youth would have benefited by means of knowledge transfer or on-the-job training is completely lost because none of them is ever employed to learn the road construction trade.

Without labouring the point, the Plateau state government should encourage youth participation in the ongoing infrastructure projects by engaging them in the construction processes. In fact, the government can demonstrate its commitment to youth empowerment, by encouraging Plateau Youth say (under the auspices of the soon-to-be constituted Plateau Youth Council – PYC) to set up a construction consortium or company so they can equally bid for small contracts like the SUBEB classroom renovations –which they can undertake via direct labour.

But beyond that, the Plateau state government must give an equal shot to our local contractors during contract bids. These indigenous business men need support and encouragement and not disdain and oversight.

Whilst undertaking the research for this article – I determined that there are approximately 18 indigenous companies who have the capacity, capability and where-without to undertake any of the awarded multi-billion dollar contracts. Let put Plateau First please!

Dr. Chinan Maclean

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Plateau contract awards – why are Plateau contractors perpetually overlooked?