We’re transforming deficits into investment opportunities, Says Maku

The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said on Friday that the Federal Government was implementing key policies aimed at transforming deficits into investment opportunities in the country.

Maku said this in Lokoja when the National Good Governance Tour team paid a courtesy visit to the Kogi state governor, Mr Idris Wada at the government house.

He said that the policies in power, agriculture, aviation, transport and other sectors of the economy were clear manifestations of the transformation initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Maku said that the present administration had transformed the deficit in the power sector into a major investment hub for investors all over the world.

The minister appealed to Nigerians to be patient with government, noting that it would take time for the benefits of the reforms to begin to yield results.

He appealed to state governments to take a cue from the Federal Government and develop alternative sources of generating revenue to develop their states.

“Today if there is any government that is waiting for its budget to satisfy the needs of its people is lost because the trend today is to design policies that will turn opportunities into investment, and that is the direction that the whole world is turning to.

“The challenge of governance is not just to bring money from your pocket to develop the state but to initiate policies that will attract the private sector to invest in the economy.

He said that the team was in the state to visit project sites and to give an authentic report on the status of progress made by governments at all tiers.

“This team has gone round several parts of the country already, visiting projects executed by the various tires of government and the private sector,'' he said.

According to the Minister, the nature of politics is that power must be competed for both by the opposition and the incumbent and this forms the basis of starting a programme to showcase the progress of those in power.

He said: “We are also going to see those areas that are not working both for the Federal Government and the state so that we can do an honest report on the situation of things.

“The reality today is that Nigeria is moving forward, if we do not make efforts now there cannot be a better opportunity to change things for the better in our country.

In his remark, the Kogi State Governor, Capt Idris Wada, said the state government has successfully executed projects in the state with the support of the federal government.

He stressed the need for synergy between the state and Federal Government in the provision opf basic infrastructure for the people of the state.

“Am pleased that this good governance visit has eventually materialised after several postponements occasioned by the federal and state governments at different times.

“The good governance visit undertaken to show the projects executed by government could not have come at a better time especially when the people are beginning to ask questions about projects executed by government at all levels.

“As your team may have observed our projects in Kogi State have been carefully selected to improve the lives of our people and transform the economy in line with the federal government's transformation agenda,'' he said.

He said that none the projects were designed or executed to deceive the people or paint a false picture of the government and people of the state.

According to the governmor, what government has done in the past 20 months is to execute projects that will impact in the lives of the people in the best way that it can.

“We have also made efforts to complete projects started by my predecessors so as to ensure proper linkage and continuity in governance in the state in the interest of our people.

“Let me also single put our Agricultural transformation programme which is aimed at using agriculture as a tool for poverty alleviation and economic transformation,'' he said.

He said that the state government was being futuristic in most of its programmes in youth empowerment and economic rejuvenation.

He said that the state government's efforts in developing value chain for Cassava, Soya bean, Sugar cane, Rice and other valuable crops was deliberate and aimed at placing the state ahead of its peers.

The team was received at the government house by the governor and members of the state executive council.