There should be no excuse this year from the federal government on the revival of the Baro Inland Port in Niger state, which has been abandoned, after huge amount of public money was sunk into the project.
Government at the center began the project few years ago, aimed at navigating the Baro River from Lagos to Benin and to Lokoja and dragged to join Baro River in Niger state, as a way of solving the problems of imported light goods coming to the North.
This important project has been abandoned by the immediate-past federal government without any reason advanced despite the monetary allocations in the budget during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The importance of the Baro Port cannot be ignored. The seaport is beneficial to the economy of the country in general, underscoring the need to speed up its completion in this year’s budget.
Expert on ports administration are concerned about the delay in completing the project, which they said has the potential of turning around the nation’s economy. They express worry that government would abandon such a project that could be of immense benefit and added value to the development of our ports.
They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the issue very quickly and order the completion of Baro Sea Port, adding that the project will reduce unemployment and the menace of insecurities.
With the activities of the state government to solve the myriad of problems in Niger state, the federal government should encourage Governor Muhammad Bago and support his resolve to develop the power state. The public perception of the man has been commendable, and requires the full support of the federal government to pursue the goals.
The farmer governor was the first among to purchase hundreds of farm tractors which have been distributed to farmers and farmers’ organisations across the state. According to reports, the aggressive farming innovation has started to yielding good and impressive results.
Despite reported insecurity in the state, which has been giving the state government serious concern, Governor Bago has involved all the security agencies in the state and working hard to nip the menace in the bud.
Othe areas of concern which the state government has placed priority are the dilapidated roads across the state which has created unfortunate road accidents in the past and claimed many lives. Today, some of the roads have been constructed, and many are ongoing.
Other areas of importance, which the Bago administration should vigorously pursue, is the issue of unemployment. The state government can make a headway by appealing to the federal government to come to its aid in reviving the Baddegi Rice Mill, Bacita Sugar Company, and other abandoned industries.
Governor Bago can also look into the possibility of privatisation and commercialisation of all government agriculture value chain assets in the state, and invite experts to contribute on the impact of such ideas, and proffer what the state stands to benefit.
Now that majority of the people in the state are commending Governor Bago over his blueprint for the state which has touched other areas, such as education, health and other infrastructure, towards accelerating the development of the entire state, he should not relent.
Finally, with reports of various crimes occuring almost daily in the state capital, Minna, mostly due to joblessness, it has become imperative for the government to be more aggressive, and collaborate with other stakeholders to address the challenge.
With the close proximity of Minna to the seat of the federal government in Abuja, Niger state should be accorded priority in some areas of development and industrialisation. It will not be out of place for the federal government to develop the satellite town of Suleja in order to reduce the concentration of people in Abuja.
There is wisdom in the federal government collaborating with the Niger state government in all its activities, considering the large land mass of the state, which is good for agriculture.
