₦airaland Forum

omiobo: They will not succeed! Isha allah!

amen.....

...interesting!

Two alleged Improvised Explosive Devices (IEAs) were Monday diffused by the police anti-bomb squad. They were planted directly in front of the post office in Area 10, Garki, Abuja.

The parcel was wrapped and addressed to the Minister of Finance.

The Post Master General, (PMG) of the Federation, Mr. Ibrahim Mori Baba, said the parcel was planted last Friday by a man he described as insane. He said he could not confirm if it was a bomb or otherwise.

He said the security operative told reporters that they would do their job and determine if what exploded was a bomb.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news-update/parcel-explosive-for-okonjo-iweala-diffused/

na wa o!some people yearly salary na im boys dey use do bet ehh RFLMAO

Afam4eva: I wonder how GEJ will be feeling knowing that he's gonna face one of the most difficult interviews ever.

i am telling you especially when there'll be no pre arranged questions... SMH

Afam4eva: My thoughts exactly...Is Amaechi telling us that he won't expose corruption if the minister behaves himself?

exactly!!!because he is also corrupt...

la furia: let me derial thread a little.
i find this pic so funny sha. GEJ will be having an interveiw with christiane amanpour tomorrow, 8pm, on national issues..

na wa o!this woman fine pass as she dey for CNN o!
GEJ better go and do some reading up before the interview

The_King'sQueen, niggaman(m), 2iic(m), OCHULORC(f) and 3 guest(s)
ochulor,hows ivy

as far as i am concerned,dressing is not an issue in this matter. if fash wan wear pyjamas sef no wahala! neo-colonialism na wa o! its only in naija we hear such rubbish.
was mahatma ghandi known for his dressing??

berem: go where ? I hate it when grown men wash their dirty black azz in public. whatever scores they have to settle, they should do that amicably.

aunty...not true o! sometimes in politics there is no 'amicably'....

[quote author=Mr. Globe]i don't get your point. is Google relocating to Lagos? what's the correlation between oil and this visit? don't you see you are running mad already[/quote] ......the thing is embarrassing i swear! i dont know why they cant get the fact that lagos is way way beyond fashola.

OAM4J, OCHULORC(f), keeeem, xtianh(m), berem(f) and 3 guest(s)
...i don catch you....you dey browse during work period abi

geeez: Rude boy Fashola. Doesn't this guy realize we have a sitting president in Nigeria? He didn't even visit his Minister of Science and Technology!

stop being a fool! why must you keep embarrasing your 'old man'.... .do you realise lagos is the entry point into naija and a 'courtesy visit' is paid to the governor as such.get your head outta your 'stuff' abeg....

Odunnu: Amaechi sounds like a certain nairalander.
An immature one sef.

i agree but its rather annoying o!a federal minister tries to rubbish a sitting governor because of 'abuja politics',meanwhile the said minister is a criminal who just sits on his a*ss in abuja 'drinking' money like water.the PH-omerelu-owerri road is indeed a federal road,but amaechi turned it around,albeit with a huge signboard reading "this road is a federal government road but is being worked on by the state govt".....

amaechi is going for this mans jugular o! on AIT yesterday the east west road (PH segment) was featured. at the same time he featured the PH-omerelu road that is a federal road but done by the state govt.so it was a comparison of sorts....
truth is at the end of the day,this whole embarrasment still rubs off on jonathan.

Otutu1: But bakare also has a point, GEJ is making it look like God is the one running the country. If so he's should go and kneel in mosques and shrines alike including orthodox churches.

yeah just like all your former military moslem rulers knelt in churches and prayer houses abi

so SA no be number 1 after all the noise made on the other thread?

i was there and i 'waka comot' because honestly there was absolutely nothing to see.typical fashola propaganda from time immemorial.

^^^but they have asked you the same questions about lagos many times on this forum and all you give us are propaganda redtape cutting pictures.....
let me repeat myself and people who have gone around will echo the same thing.......fashola is GROSSLY overrated.he does not come close...i repeat close to amaechi in the areas of health,education and human resource development.fact! fashola still does not come close to akpabio in road construction.
your man is basically being hailed for repainting existing structures .
infact i think its an indictment on lagos to still be comparing it to rivers et al at this stage.

californication 6

pls criticize constructively.......no insults! this thread is meant to complement 'what have niger delta states achieved' by afam4ever.

PROTOCOLS

Honourable Speaker, another year has rolled by and it is my honour and pleasure to present the 2013 budget proposal to this esteemed House. While presenting the 2012 Budget of the State to honourable members on the 20th of December 2011, I did say that the Budget was to ensure the timely completion of all ongoing projects. This was because this administration does not intend to leave any project uncompleted within its tenure, and we have not deviated from that commitment. As I promised, transparency and accountability remain our guiding principles. We reckon clearly that this administration must ensure disciplined spending for efficient use of resources and service delivery. I am glad to report that we have made progress in this regard. Infrastructure and security have improved and we have laid a sustainable foundation for the transformation of our dear state.

This budget proposal is the product of extensive consultations with key stakeholders and will further translate this Administration’s agenda into concrete actions for the people in 2013. Today, in the face of critical resource constraints, the defining moment of our work is in actualizing our promises.

As is the tradition of this administration, today, we give account of the progress and challenges of our policies and programmes. While ours is work in progress, we have recorded significant milestones worthy of note. We have impacted on the critical sectors of the economy with much work done in education, health, power, agriculture and transportation infrastructure. Our policies are designed to attract investments and create employment.



We face unique challenges as a people, but we are determined to make a break with the past and begin to chart a new path, going forward. We will continue to fulfill our electoral promises and meet citizens' expectations at a time of enormous economic and social challenges.

2013 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

The seeming fragility of the global economy in this current year continues to threaten the performance of the Nigerian economy and its sub-national economies. However, second quarter GDP growth in real terms was impressive with a growth of 6.25% compared to 5.4% forecast for sub-Saharan Africa. This economic growth was mainly driven by activities in the non-oil sector. However, the threat still remains and this underscores the need to be modest on our budget assumptions.



Since the beginning of the year, report indicates increased inflationary pressure. Inflation rate as at December 21 stood at 12.9 percent. The lag effects of the partial removal of subsidy, the security situation in the Northern part of the country and the floods that ravaged some parts of the country caused food inflation rates to rise higher than projected. Also, increase in electricity tariff and the weakened Naira are major contributors of the inflationary pressures. Prices of goods and services may continue to move upward because of these challenging situations.



The performance of our budget is predicated on the Nigerian macro-economic environment. As a sub-national economy, the international oil market as well as domestic oil production, as always, will be crucial in the year 2013. The Federal Government will have to continue with its programme of fiscal discipline and prudent monetary policy in order to improve the macro-economic environment of the country, which will have important effects in the sub-national economies in the coming year.



Oil production in 2013 is estimated at 2.5 million barrel per day (mbpd) as against this current year's 2.48mbpd with a benchmark price of $75 per barrel. Our budget estimates are based on a benchmark price of $65 per barrel to create a safety net of $19 in view of the instability and the volatile nature of the international oil market. Exchange rate is predicated on N157 to a dollar.


Notwithstanding the envisaged challenges ahead, we remain hopeful that our sub-national economy will continue to improve in 2013 with our policies and programmes in agriculture and in the other critical sectors that drive economic growth.



We expect our revenue profile in 2013 to perform better as our Federation Account Revenue will likely remain sustainable based on our modest estimates and the deliberate reforms and improvements going on in the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR). Our business environment will become more attractive to investors in 2013 as we continue to improve on security, maintenance of law and order and power supply. While encouraging big time investors, our determination to improve the local economy will receive a major boost in 2013 with the creation and launching of the N5 billion State Equity/Enterprise Fund before the end of the first quarter of 2013. Building on the German model, the idea is to improve access to credit by medium scale entrepreneurs and those graduating from the micro levels.


REVIEW OF THE 2012 BUDGET

Revenue Performance

Honourable Speaker, the 2012 Budget of N438 billion was proposed to be funded by Federation Account (FAAC) Receipts of N261 billion; Year 2011 Closing Balance of N12 billion, Proposed Bond/Loans of N100 billion and IGR of N65 billion. The N261billion Federation Account Revenue proposed for the 2012 Budget was made up of the following: Statutory Allocation (N55billion); 13% Mineral Fund N165 billion); Excess Crude Oil Fund/Arrears (N3billion); Fuel Subsidy Revenue (N11 Billion); Others(N12 billion)

As at November this year we have actualized N227.58 billion out of the N261 billion expected from the Federation Account for the year. This is 87.19% achievement of the FAAC receipts projection for the entire year 2012. We have also recorded 107.06% achievement in IGR having realized N69.59 billion as against N65 billion IGR receipts proposed for the year. Aggregate revenue (FAAC & IGR) achieved by the end of November 2012 stood at N297.17 billion out of a projected total of N326 billion giving us an aggregate revenue achievement of 91.16% for the period under review.



The revenue achievement is not unconnected, among other things, with our modest assumptions in the preparation of the budget and the strengthening of the State's IGR machinery. For example, we benchmarked our revenue budget on $60 per barrel against Federal Government's benchmark of $70 per barrel in 2012.



A breakdown of the revenue targets achieved by the end of November 2012 is as shown here under:



Statutory Allocation N34.21 billion
Mineral Fund (13%) N115.08 billion
VAT N11.10 billion
Excess Crude Oil Fund/Arrears N11.60 billion
Fuel Subsidy Revenue N10.17 billion
Others N45.42 billion

Total Federation Account N227.58 billion



IGR N69.59 billion



2012 Budget Expenditure Profile

Expenditure
The N438 billion aggregate expenditure proposed for 2012 fiscal year was made up of a total Recurrent Expenditure of N114.26 billion and a Capital Expenditure of N323.75 billion. Combined actual total expenditure (Recurrent plus Capital) is (N310.24 billion) for the period ending November, 2012.



Recurrent Expenditure

We have so far spent a total of N93.54 billion on Recurrent Expenditure by the end of November this year. This represents 81.87% of our total Recurrent Expenditure of N114.26 estimated for the year. Salaries and pension benefits were paid as at when due and our Overheads were released to MDAs promptly and as budgeted. We have kept Recurrent Expenditure under check as a demonstration of strong financial discipline and good budgeting assumptions.



Capital Expenditure

Capital expenditure for 2012 was estimated at N323.75 billion. The Capital projection for 2012 amounted to 73.92% of the total Budget estimates for the year 2012. Capital expenditure releases to MDAs as at November 2012 showed that we have so far spent N216.70 billion which is 66.93% of the total Capital Appropriation of N323.75 billion projected for the whole year.

The sectorial performance is as highlighted below.








Sectoral/MDAs Performance (Capital Expenditure)
Capital estimates to some critical sectors in 2012 budget are as follows: Economic Sector N99.40 billion; Social Sector N100.05 billion; and Environmental Sector N17.91 billion

ECONOMIC SECTOR

In this sector, out of a total budget of N99.40 billion estimated for capital expenditure for the year, N57.79 billion has so far been spent by the MDAs as at November ending this year. This represents 58.14% of the budgeted capital expenditure for the sector. Below are some highlights of performance of its various sub sectors.



AGRICULTURE

Agriculture remains our brightest hope for employment generation and a key driver of a sustainable economic growth and improving rural life. In 2012, we made significant progress in our agricultural projects. We have put in place a 15 year contract for the operation and management of the Agro Industrial Farms/Villages by LR Group, an Israeli company. Our partnership with SIAT Nigeria Limited to revamp and manage Risonpalm recorded huge progress in this year, so also is our investment in the Songhai Farms. These investments and their value chains will have capacity to create over 10,000 jobs when fully operational.



ROADS AND TRANSPORT

With regards to our rail transport, the Monorail construction continued unhindered in the year 2012. All components of the project, design, installation and construction were on schedule during the year. Installation of the track elements and beam has already commenced on the UTC - Lagos Bus Stop axis of the project while construction of the monorail stations at UTC Junction and Azikiwe Bus Stop is on going. Various road constructions are ongoing across the State. In 2012, our roads continued to witness improvements despite the huge challenge of high frequency of rain. Government completed most of the ongoing project works in this year and some will be completed next year. There is massive rehabilitation and construction of roads in Port Harcourt metropolis. To demonstrate this commitment in 2012, we provided N60 billion with an actual appropriation of N46.32 billion as at the end November.



POWER AND ENERGY

We are fast-tracking the implementation of our power project to guarantee steady power supply in the State. This honourable Assembly graciously approved the resolution on issuance of Guarantee for the Acquisition of Port Harcourt Power Distribution Company by 4-Power Consortium LTD. We are also building 28 new injection substations in the state which will help stabilize the distribution network and bring power to our people. Our commitment to build a refinery at Ikpokiri remains unshaken. N25.16 billion was earmarked for this sub sector which was also fully appropriated.



SOCIAL SECTOR

The State planned to appropriate N100.10 billion for 2012. So far, the sum of N48.56 billion has been spent on this sector. Key Sub sectoral highlights include:



EDUCATION

In the year under review, this sub sector received N18.25billion out of N64 billion budgeted. We made significant progress at rebuilding our Schools infrastructure. Education remains free at the primary and secondary levels. We continued with the construction of 24 model secondary schools. Nne Krukrubo Model Secondary School at Eleme is concluding its admission process and normal academic activities is commencing in January 2013. We are vigorously pursuing the construction of the remaining Model Primary Schools earmarked for completion. We sustained our yearly overseas and local scholarship awards. We have also improved facilities at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and the Rivers State University of Science and Technology despite challenging situations in the institutions.



HEALTH

The main focus of 2012 budget for health was on completing ongoing projects. We sustained and improved on our efforts to curbing the menace of malaria and HIV. We have started the renovation of major hospitals in the three Senatorial Zones to serve as referrals for the Model Health Centers. Our effort was further rewarded as the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) is now on the map of accredited hospitals in West Africa. In 2012, we started full implementation of our Free Medical Programme for all persons residing in the State. We also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a foreign firm to expand the state owned Auto –Disable- Syringe factory to produce one billion syringes instead of the current 160 million annually. N18 billion was earmarked N1.93billion has been spent as at November 2012.



ENVIRONMENTAL SECTOR

The sum of N17.91 billion was budgeted for this sector with N13.16 billion spent. Government has initiated reforms in waste management aimed at giving the State a healthy and clean environment, the result of which will begin to show soon.

During the period under review, government spent N4.88 billion to fund the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority; Ministry of Lands and Survey received N3.84 billion; Urban Development spent N3.10 billion while the Ministry of Housing spent N430 million. For property and land related issues, we will remain true to our commitment that duly signed land titles and Certificate of Occupancy on land in the State will be released within 30 days after submission. Already, a One –Stop- Shop has been opened by the Ministry of Urban Development to simplify plan assessment and approval processes.

On the whole, our hope in 2013 is to improve the performance ratios in the various sectors of our economy.



KEY POLICY THRUST FOR 2013

Honourable Speaker, the 2013 budget will be implemented based on the following policy assumptions and guidelines.



Balancing the budget structure to ensure that Recurrent spending is financed from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and heading towards achieving a ratio of 30%:70% for Recurrent to Capital Expenditure. With the reengineering of the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), the average monthly revenue of N6.5 billion in this current year is expected to improve to a minimum of N7.5 billion per month in 2013. At full capacity we expect the 2013 monthly Recurrent Expenditure items of Salaries, Overheads & Monthly Pensions currently averaging N8.5billion to be funded from IGR



Completing ongoing projects in the critical sectors of the economy

Building agriculture as the main driver of our subnational economic growth and job creation

Reforming and maintaining a robust public financial management structure, system and processes that brings about efficiency and effectiveness of use of our resources.

sustain the promotion of Public Private Partnership (PPP) to accelerate development and implementation of projects

Improving capacity of public servants to enhance efficiency and ensure good governances and service delivery

Improving security and maintenance of law and order

Improving the business environment.



THE 2013 BUDGET

Honourable Speaker, as already emphasized, Agriculture is expected to provide the lead in driving economic growth and providing job opportunities. We will continue to manage our sub-national economy in such a way to playing a leading role in the Nigerian economy. We are the second largest sub-national economy in the country and the nation’s leading producer of oil and gas. In 2013, our commitment to the critical sectors that drive and sustain economic growth (power, roads and transport, education and health) will continue to remain a topmost priority as well as improve governance. Sound regulatory framework will be put in place to ensure best practice and sustainability.



Honourable Speaker, with the effort and inputs from all stakeholders, we are proposing an aggregate Budget of N490.32 billion for the year 2013. The proposed budget is N52.32 billion higher than N438 billion Appropriation of the out-going fiscal year. This translates to a 11.95% increase in the budget volume for 2013. This proposed figure was reached after a careful consideration of project submissions, options and factors that are needed to achieve our developmental targets in view of the challenges facing us as a State. We took pains and consulted broadly with relevant stakeholders, bureaucrats and experts during its preparation. We are committed to ensuring that no project is left uncompleted in the life of this Administration.

FINANCING THE BUDGET

The Proposed 2013 Budget of N490.32 billion is expected to be funded by: Statutory Allocation (FAAC) of N245 billion; IGR including Social Levy of N80 billion; Prior year balance of N48.32 billion; Bond proceeds of N100 billion & World Bank/African Development Bank (AfDB) Credit of N17 billion.

EXPENDITURES

Capital Expenditure proposal for 2013 is N314.30 billion as against N323.70 billion in 2012. Proposed Recurrent spending is N176.02 billion as against N114.25 billion in 2012. These proposed expenditures show a sharp increase of 54.06% in Recurrent Expenditure and a decline 2.92% in Capital Expenditure compared to the 2012 Budget respectively. Capital Expenditure projection for 2013 is 64.10% of the total budget while Recurrent Expenditure is 35.90% of the budget.



We had made provisions under the Recurrent Expenditure window for new recruitments including the hiring of additional 13,000 teachers to strengthen our education sub sector. Adequate provisions were equally made for the Monthly Pension/Contributory Pension Scheme, bond issuance related costs and loan repayment in 2013. These provisions totaling in all N92.19 billion is responsible for the obvious increase in the proposed Recurrent Expenditure for 2013.



We are hopeful, Honourable Speaker, to approach the capital market in the first quarter of 2013 and conclude our first Bond issuance for N100 billion. It is necessary to emphasize that the Bond proceeds would be applied only on specific projects as outlined in the Bond documents. These would include:



The Greater Port- Harcourt M-10 Highway -a 10km road consisting of five bridges linking the New City from the International Airport to Onne Seaport. This is to facilitate movement of goods and services from the Airport to Seaport, provide connectivity between the Old and The New City, decongest the Old City of traffic and improve access to Airport, the New City and Onne Seaport

The construction of M-1 Highway from UTC Junction to the International Airport

The new Rivers State University of Science & Technology (RSUST) Campus Project to develop a world class academic institution in the State

The part funding of the Monorail project from UTC to Waterlines Junction- a distance of about 3.9km

Funding of priority roads in Greater Port Harcourt and internal township services (sewage etc)



BREAKDOWN OF CAPITAL BUDGET:



Economic Sector N93.09 billion



Works N65 billion

Power N15 billion

Transport N8.5 billion

Agriculture N4.03 billion

Commerce & Industry. N400 million

Energy and Natural Resources N160 million

Social Sector N64.50 billion



Education N47.81 billion

Health N10.23 billion

Sports N3.04 billion

Information N1.2 billion

Women Affairs N600 million

Culture and Tourism N1.12 billion

Social Welfare and Rehabilitation N500 million



ENVIRONMENTAL SECTOR

Capital Expenditure proposal for this sector is N37.60 billion with allocations as follows: Housing (N3 billion); Ministry of Environment (N3 billion); Water Resources (N25.5 billion); Lands and Survey (N800 million); Urban Development (N1.8 billion);Housing and Property Development Authority (N200 million) Waste Management Agency (N3 billion); Environmental Protection Agency (N200 million );Urban Beautification, Parks And Gardens (N100 million)



Honourable Speaker, permit me to provide some explanations in the allocations to key sectors. A Detailed breakdown of the Budget will be provided by the Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning at a later date.



HEALTH

The proposed amount of N10.23 billion is aimed at completing ongoing health projects spread across the State and to sustain and improve our health programmes. Our Free Medical Programme for all persons residing in the State commenced in 2012. We are establishing a Fertility Centre at BMSH; Expanding Auto –Disable- Syringe factory to produce one billion syringes annually. We will be intensifying our efforts to receive further accreditations from the West Africa Post Graduate Medical College to turn BMSH to a Medical College for the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. Already the health facility has received accreditation for four departments.



EDUCATION

We will continue to sustain and improve on our Free Education Programme (Primary and Secondary levels ). Full academic activities in some of our Model Secondary Schools will commence in 2013. Management of these Model Schools is already outsourced to an Indian Firm. The Ambassador Nne Krurubo Model Secondary School at Eleme will be operational in January, 2013 as admission processes will soon be concluded. We have concluded the construction of our Vocational Training Institute to address skill gaps amongst our youth. The institute would be managed by a German team. An agreement with the team to manage the centre for 6 years will soon be signed. Our Technical Colleges will be receiving financial and technical assistance from the World Bank supported SEEFOR project to improve learning outcomes and skills acquired. These efforts are aimed at increasing opportunities for employment for our youth.



The new RSUST Campus project is on course. We will continue to improve infrastructure and learning conditions at RSUST, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and other tertiary institutions in the State. More of the model primary schools will be completed in the coming year. We are implementing Free Primary and Secondary Education. Our yearly overseas and local scholarship awards will be sustained in 2013. The sum of N47.81 billion is allocated to this sub sector.



AGRICULTURE

We will continue in our drive to improve on food security and reduce unemployment through our programmes in the Agric sub- sector. We are providing N4.03billon for agriculture in this coming fiscal year. This provision will be used to finance our commitments to our Fish Farm projects in Buguma, Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, the Agro Industrial Farms/Villages managed by LR group, an Israeli firm, Songhai farms and our partnership with SIAT Nigeria Limited to revamp and manage Risonpalm.



POWER

In the year 2013, most ongoing projects in the Power Sub-sector will be completed. We are budgeting N15 billion to accomplish this, including our rural electrification projects. We have taken significant steps in using the 4-Power Consortium Ltd. to facilitate the distribution of electricity to all parts of the State in 2013. The 28 new injection substations are expected to be completed in 2013 to stabilize distribution network and bring stable power to our people.



WATER

Last year, we mentioned that due to the huge financial outlay required in executing water projects, government was developing a long term integrated approach to the provision of water in the State. I am happy to announce, Honourable Speaker, that we have finally secured the necessary long term finance required to fund the new Port Harcourt metropolis water supply project. The funding secured from the World Bank and African Development Bank shall ensure that necessary infrastructure is in place for sustainable delivery of water to the residents of Port Harcourt metropolis. We shall also continue with our water sector reforms and institutional strengthening that will change the face of water sector in the State once and for all. The sum of N25.50 billion is earmarked for appropriation in 2013.



ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

The ongoing massive road reconstruction and rehabilitation work within Port Harcourt will be intensified. The Ministry of Works is applying world best practices in road construction. The process though expensive would enhance the realization of the Transformation Agenda and promote value for money spent on road construction in the State. Our ongoing road projects outside Port Harcourt will continue to receive our attention. We are allocating N73 billion (N65 billion for roads and N8 billion for the Mono Rail project) to this sub sector in 2013. As already highlighted, construction of the M-I and M-10 Highways will commence in 2013. We will continue in our efforts in the Mono Rail project. It is aimed practically at addressing the swelling traffic problems encountered in the city of Port Harcourt. We believe the project should be given a chance because it would deliver on a whole lot of advantages especially by unlocking the City Centre of the burden of heavy traffic.


GOOD GOVERNANCE.

In 2013, we will intensify our efforts at improving the public service both in terms of capacity building and reengineering the business processes of government and provision of motivations. Our public expenditure management system and processes will continue to witness great transformation especially with the technical support of the World Bank under the SEEFOR project. The government is committed to ensuring that all public servants are ICT compliant to improve the efficiency and increase productivity. Our agenda on openness, accountability and transparency will continue to be executed in 2013. We will not stop at rendering accountable stewardship to our people.



CONCLUSION

Honourable speaker, Distinguished Members of the State House of Assembly, I thank you all for your support and consideration when issues and requests are presented before this Assembly. I am humbled by your appreciation of the challenges in governance. I on behalf of the government and people of Rivers State appreciate you all. Our deep gratitude also goes to all who made this Budget Presentation possible. We therefore most respectfully lay before this House the 2013 Budget proposal for consideration and passage into law, as we wish you all a merry Christmas and prosperous new year in advance.

they should adhere strictly to the rules of engagement.my fear is that proper plans for the safety of our citizens there might not have been put in place.we dont want a repeat of 'liberia'.

AjanleKoko: I still don't see any facts behind your posts. You just go on about '5th largest economy' without even providing any viable responses to what we have thrown up here. And your persistent rants of 'ignorant' is already an overused currency on Nairaland. Every clown who has access to a computer can come on Nairaland and call everybody else 'ignorant'. Still does not show that you know what you're talking about.

But it's okay. You write like one of the local journalists, who only write passionately, and devoid of any real facts. If that's the case, I would not really be surprised, and frankly you cannot be taken seriously. Journalists are cheap currency in Nigeria, and I would certainly not spend my time debating with one. Smart people don't engage in shouting matches, which is what it seems you specialize in. They improve the quality of their arguments.

[quote author=AjanleKoko]my brother why are you insistent on jumping in the gutter and playing with touts? why?please pick who you argue with on this forum wisely!

J12: Lagos economy this, lagos economy that. Yes, lagos has the best economy among nigerian states but Fashola should note that it his not by his making, Tinubu's making or even ACNs making. Lagos is a product of the handiwork of
1. The British Government
2. The Federal Government
3. Hardworking nigerians regardless of tribe

this summarises it as far as i am concerned....

fashola takes a dump and we applaud **shakes head**

abeg make una free tarantino......na im way.its a 'quentin' thing.... **remembers pulp fiction**

seanet01: So Enugu has only one Hotel, so much for the Pride of The East.

you wan fin trouble abi?this na 2013 o!

States Should Be Allowed To Develop At Own Pace – Gov. Amaechi


In this interview, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi speaks on the achievements of his administration and expresses frustration over certain federal government policies which seem to stifle development in some states. He speaks with Adekunbi Ero, general editor, Anayochukwu Agbo, senior associate editor and Tony Manuaka, associate editor. Excerpts:



You unveiled your Master Plan for the development of Rivers State in 2008, four years down the line, how far have you gone in the implementation of your dream for the state?

I’ll look at it from the saying that a dancer doesn’t judge himself; so how do I assess myself? I should be asking you that question.



What I mean is, how far have you achieved the goals and milestones as indicated in your blueprint for the development of Rivers State?

We told the state that we will build 750 primary schools; we have built 500; we have furnished and equipped 250. It doesn’t matter whether we commission or not; we don’t believe in commissioning. It’s the noise by the opposition that made us do the 60:6060 – 60 health centres in 60 days in 60 communities. Because we were not commissioning the projects, they were saying oh, too many projects, uncompleted and all that. So, we say okay, we will do it in batches. To tell them that we built 60 health centres in 60 days, you know that it’s not possible to build one health centre in a day, but the fact that we are commissioning everyday for 60 days is an indication that these health centres were already in place, with doctors and nurses, furnished and equipped. So, we did that.



Now, we were preparing to do 250 primary schools in 250 days in 250 communities. And if you’ve been to our primary schools, you will see that the equipment and furnishing that you have there cannot be done in one day. Most of the schools have been functioning. Like the one at Elekahia, was done in 2008; it was among the first primary schools that we built. When you visit any of our primary schools you will know that the equipment cannot be done in one day. And then within that same period, we intend to commission two or seven of our new secondary schools. The one at Eleme has been furnished but there is so much dust on it. It’s been there for about two years because of Due Process.



We had arranged to get a manager from outside the country but Due Process said that we didn’t comply with due process. They said we must comply with due process. It took us two years of argument to get an approval and the company said they can’t come in now; it will affect the children. They said they will open in September. It is an Indian company, Educom. They are already on ground doing preparation for take-off.



Why a foreign company to manage the schools?

I don’t know. It doesn’t matter whether it is India or not India. How many schools have you run in Nigeria in the same condition as India with 1.2 billion population as against our 160 million? I just felt that they should manage. I went to two secondary schools today; they were a pitiable sight. In fact I asked that they shut down one of the schools. The Education Commissioner disagreed and said we should rather renovate the buildings since the once we are building, those ones you saw, we are building 24 and they cannot satisfy the need of our people with about170,000 children in secondary schools. So if you want to build such schools you have to build 150! And we don’t have that kind of money. One school is N4.5 billion. Where will you get N4.5 billion to build 150 secondary schools?



We are building 24 of them and we believe that the best way to go about it is to renovate the old schools. Like those schools had no laboratories; how do you pass your practical exams? They couldn’t answer. That is why I said they should close them down but wise counsel said no, instead, let’s do a six months programme; build, not necessarily big schools like we have – emergency secondary schools - 15 classrooms, laboratories and office spaces for the teachers and principal. That’s all you need in a day school; most of them are day schools. You don’t need all the facilities you have at Eleme and other model secondary schools at all the local government headquarters. So we have agreed to build two of such per local government at between N500 million and N600 million each.



I’m sure you have seen the monorail; I’m sure you have seen that work is going on there. The columns are being done. It’s a very tedious and slow process; that’s why most people are saying it is a white elephant project and that we will not complete it! But we are sure that we will complete it. We were assured by the contractors that before we leave office they would have completed at least seven, out of the 21 kilometres.There are quite a lot of things we have done. You have seen some roads; in Port Harcourt metropolis, from Education to Agip has been dualised. At Agip we did a flyover. We did a flyover at Eleme Junction. There is another flyover at Eliozu. There are also the new Eliozu Road and the new Stadium Road.



Almost all our projects, you won’t see the drainage, or what people call gutter; they are all underground. All the roads we are building, except the one at Amadi-Ama, Abuloma, the rest are all underground. And in town where we are doing an integrated drainage system with overlay of the road, that is where you have covered drains, not under-ground. Apart from these two, almost all our projects have sub-surface drain which is underground. All you see is the manhole which takes the water. And all our roads must have streetlights. I’m sure you didn’t go to Ada Geroge. It is one road they have criticised us a lot for too long but it is nearing completion. The Choba–Rumuokwuta Road and the flyover at Obiri–Ikwerre; it is a flyover that looks like a roundabout, and it is along the East-West Road which is a federal road.



The Unity Road which connects many riverine communities to the rest of the state by road for the first time, has been acknowledged as a very ambitious project; what inspired that project?

It was Dr. Odili’s vision. He started the road but he didn’t go too far. He had done like a bridge before we took over. One of the reasons for which my friend, Uche Secondus didn’t want to support me for governorship then was that he felt that if I became a governor, I will not complete the project. But not only did I expand the scope; when I took over, the road was N11 billion. Then we expanded the scope, it became N18 billion. We reviewed it further, it is now N27 billion out of which we have paid more than N19 billion. It was intended to make transportation easier for those who live in those areas, including Opobo. The land there is swampy so the mode of transportation has always been by water. You can see how challenging it was for them; the cost of building was twice what it costs here in Port Harcourt.



We have even recently approved the construction of another road to the Kalabari area, which is similar to that of Andoni.



So,Altogether, how many roads are you doing?

I can’t remember. So many roads! The rural areas are the ‘worst’; we have so many roads in the rural areas. Some completed; some uncompleted, but by the time we leave office, we would have completed all the roads. There is a road we call M1, which begins from somewhere here (Secretariat) to UTC, breaking through those houses at Diobu to the airport. It will cost us a lot of money; I don’t want to say the price now because it is in Due Process but it’s in hundreds of billions because 50 per cent of the road is on bridges. We hope that when they finish with Due Process, they can start and complete the project before we leave office.



There is another road called M10. It starts from the airport to the seaport, parallel to East-West Road; it goes to Onne. That we have awarded and they have started work. So, there are quite a lot of projects.

What more have you done on power?

I went to one of our power projects this morning. In fact I went to the farm this morning with my children. We walked to a primary school where I told you there were no laboratories. After that, my children and I drove to a power plant to see it because I had assured them that by the the grace of God, before the end of this year, we will have regular power supply and my second son was doubting. I needed to show them the power framework. We have power projects scattered here and there. We already have over 500 megawatts of power; it is distribution that is the problem. Because of the law, the federal government has not given us the approval to distribute but we are going ahead, with or without federal government approval.



The federal government recently claimed in Abuja that they had given the approval.

Stop saying that they have given us approval. What they gave is constitutional; the Constitution says you can distribute where the federal government is not present. That’s not what we are asking for! We are asking for distribution in the whole of Rivers State. If they do that, we can assure you that there will be no power interruption in Rivers State from December.



Do you have enough capacity now to distribute the power you are generating?

We have enough power. We have about 500 and something megawatts when we need only 400. We are constructing another 180 megawatts to get us to 750 megawatts; the problem is the distribution.



Do you already have a power purchase agreement with the federal government?

We don’t!





So how do hope to recoup your investment?

PHCN is just taking our power free of charge, since 2005 till today!



Part of the power reform is to free the sector for private investors to participate.

I don’t know what reforms they have but what we have argued with them is that they should give us approval to distribute our own power and recover our money. In fact we have made so much investment into PHCN; last two years, we bought two transformers for them; then we are supplying them power free of charge and we are not getting any payment from PHCN. You can’t get money from the federal government, from any of federal agencies! The roads we are constructing, we have put in over N103 billion; not one kobo refund!



Now, in terms of power, all the investments we’ve made on their own infrastructure, no refund! For us that is not the issue. For us the issue is on power, what we are saying is give us approval that we should distribute and give our people power. They are not willing to listen. They are hiding under the guise of what is the law; what the Constitution provides and it doesn’t augur well for people who have the capacity. We think that the Niger Delta states have the capacity to generate and distribute power. And if you remove the Niger Delta states from the national grid, then you’d have found 20 per cent solution to the power problem in the country. Akwa Ibom has the capacity to generate their own power; they have 190 megawatts. Akwa Ibom is a small state in terms of power consumption. I’m sure they may not consume up to 100 megawatts; I hear it’s about 60 megawatts.



So, if you give them licence to distribute their 190 megawatts, they can give their people power. I’m sure that Bayelsa, Delta, others can also do the same for themselves. But the federal government is an inhibition. That is why we talk about the type of federalism we are practising; sometimes, the federal government becomes an inhibiting factor to the development of those states that have the capacity to develop themselves. They slow you down to develop either at the pace of the federal government or at the pace of other states which is not the best for this country.



Is the security situation in Rivers State now safe for investors?

Yes! Not only are investors safe, you should know that there are more and more investments coming into the state. Indorama has announced their methane gas launch. The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company has moved to Rivers State. First Bank is doing an estate of N50 billion already; UACN has started another estate at Eliozu and many others. Investments are coming in gradually.



What about the Greater Port Harcourt City project?

We are about to start the roads. That is where MTN is taking off from. We are building a new university there. We have completed the sports city.



People appear to have a lot of reservation about your monorail project. What are the economic benefits of the project?

The question people are asking is- they are not sure if it will be completed. The economic benefit as a form of public transportation, first and foremost, if you see the traffic on Aba Road, if you have a monorail on Aba Road, it will solve part of the traffic. You know how`many man-hours people spend on that road due to traffic and how much energy and time spent which would have been utilised, if you quantify it, it may pay for the cost of the monorail. Now, what the monorail affords you is that when you get to Waterlines, from that point, you can park your car at home; in five minutes you are in Government House.



We’ve seen Songhai. What made you adopt Songhai as an economic development strategy?

It’s for the purpose of skills acquisition so that the children can prepare themselves for their own empowerment. That is what we are trying to do.



Most of your projects are rather ambitious. How do you raise the money to fund these projects?

IGR is one. And then the Federation Account. When we came, our IGR was about N2.5 billion; N2.5 multiplied by 12, how much is that? Now, we have an average of N5.2 billion, which is quite high. But we are believing it can be higher; our target is that we must be able to pay our recurrent expenditure from our IGR so that we can then take Federal Accounts Allocation Committee for our capital projects.



Between now and when your tenure ends is just about four years, you must have been indebted to banks, how do you intend to fund the loans taken for these projects that are ongoing?

Don’t forget that by the time you begin to wind down, say next year, you would have funded most of the projects and completed them. So, IGR can pay for that. A governor who may be failing after you have finished, will say the reason why I am failing is because they left XYZ amount of money and people won’t remember that you borrowed it to do projects. They will just say you embezzled it. Nigerians are quick to forget. Now, everybody is singing halleluya; few months after you leave, you will hear crucify him. I want to reduce the number of those who will say crucify him.



You have been passionate about creating jobs, how much of that have you done?

We are seriously thinking about engaging a consultant to be able to document the number of jobs we have created. Why are we doing that? People won’t also remember that if you are awarding contract for roads and you employ more than 500, you have created employment for 500 people. Multiply that by the number of roads that we have awarded. People won’t remember that you built a sports city that employed over 1000 persons. People won’t remember that you built over 100 health centres; if you are employing 50 each, multiply 50 by 100. People won’t remember that you have built primary schools out of the 750 you promised, and even if you are employing 50 per primary school, multiply it by 500. People won’t remember that you are building 24 new secondary schools.



So, in terms of job-creation, if say construction jobs are not permanent jobs, what about the farms? The fish farm is under construction. The banana farm is under construction – 2,000 hectares. The approval we just got today to improve our LR in Israel to partner with us to create a farm of 3,000 hectares. We are bringing $100 million, they are bringing $22 million. It will create 750 employment directly; that is indirectly another 750 employment. Songhai Farms is well over 2000. Until somebody documents it, because we didn’t document it, we won’t be able to know how many jobs have been created.



You came into office under a circumstance one could term a judicial miracle. How has that affected your perception of life?

It’s always been the same. I’ve always believed that what God cannot do, nobody can do it for you. What you saw that you call judicial miracle was God in action. If you have faith in God and worship Him, whatever you ask, He will do it for you. Nobody gave me a chance that I would come back. Rather I heard there was a rally, I was called Nebuchadnezzar; that I have run into the bush and that I was not coming back. But whoever said this was prophesying because the Bible said Nebuchadnezzar went into the bush but that he came back to possess his kingdom.



If you had had the governorship without so much stress, would it have changed your attitude towards your job in terms of the zeal and passion?

No, it wouldn’t have changed that. What it could have done was there would be a little control from elsewhere, from politicians. Now you are free. I owe my allegiance to God and the people of Rivers State.



You work so hard and for very long hours, how do you take off pressure?

Sleep, just as I wanted to but I had to attend to you. If not that you are here now, this place would have been full. Once the pressure comes like that, I just go to sleep. By the time you wake up like that, they’ve all gone to sleep.

source;http://www.tellng.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1486:states-should-be-allowed-to-develop-at-own-pace-%E2%80%93-gov-amaechi&Itemid=124&videoid=_1_xf7UVIX8