Yobe Is Committed To Partnerships, Investments – Gov Buni

Yobe State government has said it is committed to healthy and development-oriented partnerships that are beneficial to the government, the people and the investors.

Governor Mai Mala Buni made this commitment during the Yobe Development and Round Table Engagement with indigenes residing and serving outside the state from public and private sectors, in Abuja on Sunday night.

Buni said the state is richly blessed with agricultural, livestock and mineral resources that are yet to be fully exploited, adding that the meeting provided the opportunity to Yobe’s indigenous experts, professionals and investors to take advantage of the opportunities.

The former national caretaker chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC) said his administration is committed to providing the conducive atmosphere to support partnerships and investment to harness the potential in the state.

Buni called on the Yobe indigenes to extend their achievements back home to provide the needed opportunities to the people, stressing the need to strengthen partnership and collaboration, support
the government in creating more opportunities and fast-tracking development to effectively fight poverty.

The governor also said the State Government is highly committed to a healthy and development-oriented partnerships that are beneficial to the government, the people and the investors.

Buni said his administration had deliberately established the Yobe State Mining Development Company and the state Ministry of Livestock Development, to facilitate profitable investments in the rich mineral resources and livestock in the state.

According to him, some of the mineral resources in large commercial quantities in Yobe include limestone, gypsum, gold, trona, kaolin, diatomite, bentonite and crude oil
among others.

“Similarly, Yobe is undoubtedly a leading livestock producing state in Nigeria. My question is, where are the FULBES in Fune, Jakusko, Yusufari, and all other livestock farmers in the 17 local government areas?
I challenge us to rise to the occasion and ensure that in every Nigerian home, there is meat and dairy from Yobe state.

“Distinguished invited guests, I am pleased to inform you that in the mineral sector, some local and international investors have already indicated interest. The experts among us here have great roles to play in
participation and collaboration to protect our commonwealth and interests.

“The Sesame seed is a hot cake in the international market. We are also richly endowed with huge deposits. It may surprise you that Grains Merchants from Dawanau in Kano state, engage in yearly drive to our rural communities at the end of every season, to buy yet to be harvested Sesame seed farms at a very far low price.

“To curb this exploitation by the Shylock Merchants, government constructed roads to the hinterlands to ease means of transporting the harvests to the markets for our farmers to sell their yields with value.

“Similarly, the establishment of four Sesame processing plants in Damaturu, Potiskum, Nguru and Machina would support the farmers to meet international standards with additional value for their crops.

“Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, l wish to reassure you that all partnerships and collaborations initiated now would be sustained and
promoted under the mantra of continuity, consolidation and innovation by the next administration, Insha Allah,”he said.

Buni announced the establishment of the Yobe Global Engagement and Partnerships Desk in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government to serve as a coordinating point for engagement with Yobe
indigenes residing elsewhere in Nigeria and abroad, as well as institutions interested in supporting the State’s development.

“I hereby direct the Secretary to the State Government to develop its operational framework, including clear arrangements for coordination, information management and reporting. Our intention is to make engagement easier, more organised and more useful to the people,” he said.

Buni said while Yobe has been plagued by several challenges, including insecurity and limited resources over the years, the bold and deliberate measures adopted by the State Government had tremendously made the recovery programme and process achievable to improve the lives of the citizenry.

He said the government
provided farmers with machines and other farm inputs, free of charge to boost agricultural productivity for food security and economic growth while those engaged in business and other commercial activities also enjoyed very minimal tax charges to encourage and support them to recover their means of livelihoods.

Buni added that the reforms introduced in governance by his administration have handsomely paid off with improved service delivery in healthcare, education, agriculture, infrastructural development, economic growth and empowerment among others.

“I am fulfilled to inform you that we reconstructed 301 schools; constructed 929 new classrooms; rehabilitated 748 others; established 15 Mega and Model schools, and 10 new Government Girls
Senior Secondary Schools to boost girl-child education; recruited over 9,000 qualified teachers and trained over 12,000 others under the
emergency programme.

“Government also provided scholarships to over 50,000 students to pursue higher studies in universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and other tertiary institutions. Additionally, over 400 students were sponsored to Indian Universities to study specialised courses in medicine and engineering.

“Over 15,000 were employed in the health sector to improve service delivery in our hospitals.
In furtherance to our commitment to improve healthcare delivery, this
administration provided the requirements to secure approval of the West African College of Physicians to certify the Yobe State University
Teaching Hospital, a full accreditation for postgraduate residency training.

“In agriculture, we launched two very ambitious agricultural empowerment programmes and distributed tractors, ox-drawn ploughs, hand tillers, fertiliser, improved seeds and chemicals among others, free of charge to our farmers in each of the 178 political wards.

“Similarly, we constructed several inter-town road networks as well as
township roads to ease movement of goods and services across the state,
and to improve socio-economic growth. The Damaturu underpass, overhead and flyover roads have been completed and ready for
commissioning,”he added.

In his remarks, Secretary to the Yobe State Government, Dr Mohammed Goje, said the purpose of the roundtable was to create a focused space for dialogue between the state government and Yobe indigenes residing and serving outside the state, from public sector, business, academia, finance, development organisations and other professions.

“Our people possess valuable knowledge of how institutions work, how opportunities are met and what makes development initiatives succeed. Many of you already apply that knowledge in support of Yobe. You have offered professional guidance, fostered institutional engagement, supported individuals and communities, and helped draw attention to the state’s development needs.

“This gathering provides an opportunity to build on these successes through more deliberate exchange of ideas. Our theme for this gathering, ‘harnessing your expertise and partnership for inclusive growth and development’, invites us to consider a practical solution and questions on how can our collective experience help improve the quality of development opportunities available to the people of Yobe,” he said.

Goje commended Governor Buni for providing the enabling leadership and support that made the gathering possible, saying his willingness to listen and engage provided an important foundation for the conversation.