Following the ongoing economic recession in the country, governments at all levels were on Monday advised to take hard decisions, for them to overcome the recession.
This was disclosed by the Director Plan International, Dr Hussaini Abdu, while speaking at the opening of meeting of Secretary to the Governments of the 23 APC States, ongoing in Jos.
The meeting whose overarching objective is to develop specific policy proposal on building the economy of states and ensuring governance resemblance for all 23 APC States for the consideration of progressive governors had in attendance the 23 secretaries.
Abdu said, “It is an opportunity to reset your budget; so nobody should think that the country will come out of this economic situation without necessarily taking a very hard decisions. Those hard decisions are very temporary, is not something you keep permanently, but the message is always that you can’t get out of it without taking those hard decisions.
According to him, the hard decisions will be taken at individual and at different levels of governance.
“After taking those hard decisions, there are certain areas that require prompt protection and investment.
He added that, “The first is education; that whatever decision we are going to take, we ensure that we protect education so our children get the desired education.
“The second is health services, we have to be strong, we have to be healthy for us to actually get into production, because anybody who is not healthy cannot provide production the way it is required. So we need to strengthen that.
“The third, is that we need to have access to food, we have to make sure that the system is such that can produce food and a system that can sustain food production; because when we are in recession and you are also getting to a level of food crisis.
“We need to ensure that whatever it will take to make sure that the poor get food is actually done. These three key issues are very important.
Abdu further advised the forum to invest on infrastructure, especially the roads and the rail system, adding that no nation boast of industrialization without the rail system; “its more important than air transport, when it comes to production and industrialization.
“When we invest in the rail system instead of the air transport, people and goods can move easily and our roads will last longer.
“The average lifespan of our roads in the Northern part of the country now is about 2 years, and the Southern part is 6 months.
“This is the only country where somebody will own a N100 million car, and he hit the road, and drives and doesn’t pay a dime.
He said there is a need for such persons to pay tax on such vehicles, so that the nation’s roads can be maintained.
“These are hard decisions but the need to be taken if the nation is to come out of its current situation.
In his remarks, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, said, “There is no gain saying that the APC vision emerged from the rubble of the last administration.
Lalong who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Sonni Tyoden, maintained that, “Indeed, in that valley of despair was born our desire to break with the harrowing experiences of the past. APC, a new party for a new Nigeria as captured in our party manifesto became the battle cry.
“Today, we can say with confidence that we have demonstrated in unmistakable ways in States we govern that we listen, we promise and we deliver.
“Today, I report that change has come to Plateau and is being institutionalized.
He identified the prevailing peace in the state, the accreditation of courses at the state university and the continuation of inherited projects in the state as some of the key areas his administration has impacted on.
“As you brainstorm, compare notes and proffer solutions to our current plethora of problems, I admonish you, in the words of our President to think outside the box, as abnormal challenges call for abnormal solutions;” he stressed.
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