MUHAMMAD BAGO: I WANT TO BE A CABINET MEMBER IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION.

Appoint me your Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development and give me 6months to deliver.

While as a Commissioner, pay me just thirty thousand Naira (30,000.00) minimum wage as Salary. I’ll forfeit all other benefits and entitlement outside budgetary allocations too.

My Name is Musa Alhaji Suleiman. I am from Labozhi Ward of Mokwa Local Government Area.

Your Excellency sir, after I have deeply studied and reflected on many factors that have strangulated our economic growth in the state, I have come to the realization that our biggest undoing has been our failure to prioritize areas where our state can do little and gain more like the agricultural sector.

Niger State is blessed with everything needed to be the ‘Agricultural giant’ in Nigeria. Lots of Northeastern and Northwestern states rely on Niger State farmers for raw materials for their industries, we can take advantage of that situation with the right policies that I am prepared to implement if appointed.

Your Excellency sir, it should interest you to know also that a lot of ‘Food Processing Industries’ that are domiciled in Southwestern Nigeria source most of their raw materials from Niger State. What all these signals is that we contribute a lot to the economy of most states in the country while ours in Niger State suffers.

As your commissioner for Agriculture, I will in my first two months of assuming office look critically into how we can take advantage of these raw materials by partnering with multinational companies to establish processing plants in the state thereby creating jobs and ending youths restiveness across the state.

As someone from the ‘youths constituency’, i will work hand in hand with the ministry of youths to explore how we can engage our youths in Agriculture. This includes sourcing for Federal Government and other investment Grants for the intending youths. The plan is to see that by 2025, 45% of Niger State youths are actively engaged in Agriculture.

Your Excellency sir, in Niger State, with the right policies and engagements, we have the capacity to produce ‘RICE’ that can feed the whole of West Africa. My plans as your Commissioner for Agriculture will be to attract investors from Economies like ‘Thailand’ and ‘Bangladesh’ who are renowned as major rice producers in the World to set up Mechanize Farming Companies in Niger State. (Let’s use OLAM farm as a case study).

I shall also patronize and partner with Niger State College of Agriculture Mokwa on areas where we can collectively map out strategies on easy implementation of my sterling and realizable policies as your Agric Commissioner.

Your Excellency sir, as your commissioner who might also oversee ’Rural Developments’ I have also studied the possibility of reintroducing “Ward Development Project Initiative (WADEPI)” which shall also be known as ‘WADEP Initiative’ and I have drew up plans of smooth execution if implemented.

It’s my avid understanding that development only gets to the grassroots when handled by the people from within. On this regard, Councilors from each Ward in the State shall be engaged with Directors of Works of each Local Government Area serving as supervisors. The plan is to see that development (dividends of democracy) no matter how little gets to every nooks and crannies of Niger State.

I shall upon invitation avail myself to your team for further evaluations and explanation and wherein I shall equally present my ’Policy Document’ for scrutiny.

Your Excellency sir, if after 6months I fail even remotely to meet your expectations, SACK ME.

Thank you and Ramadan Kareem!!!