MADUABUCHI NMERIBEH/Kano

Governor-elect of Jigawa state, north-west Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday urged Nigeria’s Federal Government to release the N11 billion used for the construction of Dutse International Airport.

Out-going governor, Sule Lamido sourced funds to build the airport, standing on the arrangement that the Federal Government will pay back once the project is completed.

Badaru who spoke briefly to journalists at his Kano residence was replying Governor Lamido’s statement that he was leaving N11 billion liability behind.

In Badaru’s words, “we have to see how it comes, N11 billion liability is very very huge; but I learnt he said that money is supposed to be paid by the Federal Government on the airport that is built; so if that is the case, I guess the Federal Government will have to help us to pay that money so that we can off-set the liabilities.”

Badaru who was recently elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said his administration will create wealth, fight poverty and unemployment with huge investment in agriculture.

In his words: “If you want to develop a state or a nation, you have to look at the areas you have competitive advantage and you have to invest in things that can be sustainable. So, in Jigawa, we have competitive advantage in agriculture and we can make agriculture and agro-processing sustainable in Jigawa state.

“What we are going to do is to choose specific crops that we believe can compete internationally when they are processed and exported. We produce them, process and package them for export; and I tell you that this will be the beginning of the needed development in Jigawa state.

“When we invest wisely in agriculture, other things will fall in, even cottage industries; because you will need producers of insecticides, producers of fertilizer, tractors and so on. One good thing about it is that we would always want to source our raw materials locally so that our people will become productive and actively involved in the development of the state.

“We are going to be engaged in mechanized agriculture and the production will come in large scale. We will make agriculture our own crude oil. Jigawa will be known for its investment in agriculture. We will not be doing ourselves any good, if we continue to depend on stipends that come from federal allocation. In Jigawa, we are bound to create our own wealth and create jobs for the youths through agriculture.”

He also revealed that his team is coming with a complete package to alleviate Jigawa in terms of quality education saying, “we will look at education from nursery to tertiary institution; and the major issue is teachers’ training. We have to keep training the teachers so that they can impact quality education on the students; and we will strive to make the environments of learning more conducive. We are coming with a complete package on education that will be feasible and acceptable by all.”

Badaru believes that, “development has to be everywhere in Jigawa state; and we intend to do so by spreading physical infrastructure to all the major cities across the state; even taking it to the hinterlands, because if we have concrete development in our villages, the urban areas will become less attractive.”