Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, said yesterday that his administration has in its first four years attracted foreign investments worth $400 million to the state.
The governor stated this through his deputy, Barnabas Bala Bantex during the thanksgiving and inauguration church service at First Baptist Church, Ahmadu Bello Way Kaduna
He stated that the fit was achievable due to his policies on ease of doing business in the state.
“Even though time will not part me to say much about what we have achieved within the past four years as this will be my last Sunday service as deputy governor, permit me to mention some.
‘‘We have attracted 400 million dollars from international investors because of our policy on ease of doing business that have placed our state on global business map.’’
Highlighting some of the achievements of his administration the governor said, remarkable successes have been recorded in health, education, agriculture and security of the state among others.
“My governor has directed me to lead my Christian colleagues in government to come and seek God face for the next four years. Four years ago, my governor and I swore to an oath to lead the state.
“What we have done in the last four years is to do those things that will please God. We never deviate from the plans we set for ourselves. We were admonished in that oath to stand in justice and fairness to all manner of people without fear or favour. We were called upon to read carefully the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria especially the chapter which stated clearly the fundamental human rights. But we know that whatever good you are doing, is always met with resistance.
“In the course of our campaigns in 2014, the governor went round and met with different groups including churches and mosques to ensure his government is founded on justice and fairness.
“I cannot stand here to say all we have done in four years because of time but I will try and touch some. The problems we are facing in Nigeria today is because we have not addressed the root cause long time ago. The problem of killing and kidnapping today is because there was no good education for many of the perpetrators. Today in Kaduna, our education sector has received a turn around boost.
“When we came in, we discovered that, 80 percent of resources in the state were been expended on civil servants. We reduced cost of governance in all areas. As at that time, about N2 billion was meant for running of government house alone. We reduced that to about quarter of that amount.
“Kaduna has been paying workers’ salaries up to date. We are the first to implement single Treasury Single Account, (STA) which is helping us to judiciously make use of our resources.