Governor urges more investment to beat economic recession

The much needed solution to economic recession in Nigeria is to boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state governments, Kwara state Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has said.

Ahmed, while canvassing determination and patience from Nigerians during the “trying moments” of the nation said the IGR so collected should be used for prompt provisions of infrastructure for the use of the people.

He said from a paltry sum of less than a billion naira yearly, the state at presents has the potentials of generating about N15 billion.

He spoke in Ilorin during the town hall meeting bankrolled by the Federal ministry of Information. The event was the North-Central edition of such a forum attended by six ministers.

The event according to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was packaged to enhance unhindered dialogue between the electorates and the government.

Mohammed sharply criticized the alleged Islamisation rumour of Nigeria as false and impossible citing the secularity nature of the nation just as he urged the media to desist from giving a platform for issues that could engender religious crisis in the country.

Besides, Mohammed warned of insinuations in some quarters that the Nigerian army, “the symbol of unity in the country” allegedly participated in the alleged carnage in Southern Kaduna.

According to him, the compositions of the Nigerian Military made it difficult for any particular tribe to dominate the institution.

Minister of state for Budget and National Planning Zeinab Ahmed, said the infrastructure decay deficit was more than what 30 per cent of the nation’s budget could bridge without extraneous inputs.

The proposed borrowing by the Federal Government, according to Ahmed was to fund capital projects and not for recurrent projects.

The Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole said the need to revitalise the primary health education was paramount to the government noting that about 70 per cent of patients seeking medical help at the teaching hospitals have no need of such if the primary care were upgraded.

Adewole who promised a new dawn for Nigerians in health assessments said when fully developed quality healthcare would be brought to the rural population in Nigeria. He promised an interface between the primary and secondary healthcare systems in Nigeria.