From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has tasked the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, to come up with more strategic policies to gear up Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) to cater to Nigeria’s 200 million population.
Governor Bagudu stated this in Birnin Kebbi when he received the NIPSS Senior Executives Course 43, Study Group 1 from the Institute, led by the Team Leader, Rear Admiral Elkanor Olaleye Jaeyeola.
The Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum lamented that resource limitation was one of the formidable challenges facing Nigeria.
According to him, ‘if there is anything that limits us, it is the resource limitation, both state and local governments rely on of federation account.
‘Such glaring challenges were more prevalent in the face of the competing demands for development and provision of the welfare needs of the nation.
‘Resources limitation is one of the challenges that affect everything, including security. We need to know what is the appropriate levels of funding required at all levels of government and the Institute should help in this direction.’
The governor explained that Kebbi State appreciated its uniqueness, adding that ‘over the last six years, as a governor and my team, we have seen that we are not as rich as we thought we are.
‘Within one month of being sworn in, we had very clear plans and took measures to bolster the yields of our economy agents, farmers, fishing communities and livestock production.
‘This was so that their incomes can increase and regenerate the economy. This was successfully done.
‘If there is one experience that we will like to share in our six years performance effort is this appreciation of our uniqueness.’
The Team Leader, Rear Admiral Elkanor Olaleye Jaeyeola, had earlier said that NIPSS was established to serve as a high level think tank .
He said that technocrats are put together and prepared to research and touch details of various issues bothering Nigeria.
According to him, the theme for 2021 is “Getting things done; strategies for policies and Programmes implementation in Nigeria”.
He said that the President annually gives a theme to be researched and interrogated and that their work covers Nigeria, Africa and other continents .
‘At the end of our study tours, we will review several policies, programmes and strategies ,with a view to get things done, very well. We are in Kebbi to see how the state was able to get things done well and advise the President on how this can be translated at the federal level and other aspects of the economy.’