Posted by The Punch on
For Governor Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, development is all about putting in place information technology to stimulate development in every sector of his agrarian state.
For Governor Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, development is all about putting in place information technology to stimulate development in every sector of his agrarian state. GBADE OGUNWALE, who visited the state, reports that heavy investment in this sector may as well ignite the technological revolution in other states in the federation
He sat behind his desk in a vast but sparsely furnished rectangular office. It was a picture of an obviously restless man with so many things racing through his mind. Apart from the giant sized television set erected on the wall directly opposite his desk, a coffee table, water jugs and two visitors' chairs placed in front of his desk, were the only noticeable items in the office.
On the right side of his table was a computer connected to the internet. His eyes kept roving from the group of journalists in front of him to the computer in the right corner of his table. He was far way on the internet. It was a case of divided attention as the incurably restless Saminu Turaki shared one hour of his time between the group of visiting reporters and his search for information on the net. His responses to questions were curt and straight to the point. No verbosity, no embellishments. A pivotal point in the Saminu Turaki administration is his heavy investment in information technology and biotechnology. A development that has kept many wondering if the Jigawa helmsman is getting his priority right, especially in the environment where he finds himself.
It is a clear deviation from the usual practice in Northern Nigeria where the state governments supply subsidised tons of fertilizers to the local farmers during planting seasons. But as far as Turaki is concerned, you cannot rule out technology in the development of any system. 'Our research programme is technology-driven and I don't see how one can develop agriculture without biotech. It enhances agricultural production in the long run by increasing output. Our research laboratories are well equipped for optimum production", he enthused. The state has also embraced mechanised farming with tractors having their component parts assembled locally.
The information technology revolution in Jigawa presents an interesting story of breaking the dependence on the Federal Government and GSM service providers for telecom services, which don't come cheap anyway. The Broadband Centre, located at Dutse, the state's capital, is the engine room for communications within the state. According to Abdulkadir Muhammed who heads the centre, Galaxy, the Jigawa State's GSM outfit, has attained about 96 percent interconnectivity programme with other service providers and it is only a matter of time for the service to be fully operational.
Muhammed informed that the question of congestion in call traffic would not arise even in the distant future, as the machines were installed in excess of the capacity required. 'We have made adequate provisions for future expansion on our network to cater for additional lines well in excess of what is currently in use". The attraction in the Galaxy network is the relative affordability of its services. Muhammed maintained that it provides the cheapest tariff in telecom service in the country.
The computer bug has really caught up with the state bureaucracy. The day-to-day functions and activities in the ministries and other establishments are being networked to reduce the manual operations of having officials moving from one point to the other in the course of their official duties. Although, the process is on going, the state government hopes to achieve full computerisation in the nearest future. Pupils in secondary and primary schools in the state are not left out of the info tech revolution that is sweeping across the nooks and crannies of Jigawa. Computer education has become an integral part of the school curricula.
Apart from having computers installed in all the schools, every teacher goes about with a computer laptop as part of their working tools. While the entire country still groans under epileptic hydro power supply, Jigawa State has joined the league of states with initiatives in Independent Power Project. The state has tapped into the vast potential of solar energy to complement the perennial fluctuation in power generation and supply, which has become the hallmark of Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
The solar panels, batteries and distributor are firmly on ground and functional with uninterrupted electricity supply to the state capital and other major townships. In the area of water supply, Turaki was quick to point out that no administration in the state had been able to match his achievement in the provision of potable water for the people. The state has acquired a good number of borehole drilling machines with numerous hand pump fittings. Giant overhead water tanks were seen all over the urban centres. Power generators are also on ground to ensure the supply of water on a twenty-four hour basis.
Healthcare delivery has also been given a new lease in the state, as new healthcare centres have been built and equipped across the state. The state hospitals have just taken delivery of modern equipment, including x-ray machines and other diagnostic equipment. The drug-revolving scheme has taken a new dimension with foreign pharmacists taking charge of pharmaceutical production to meet the healthcare need of the people in the state.
He added, 'So our drugs are being produced locally, instead of the usual importation that consumes huge amount in foreign exchange."
Jigawa is not left out of the public housing scheme that has become one of the cardinal objectives of virtually every state in the federation. The state government has completed and commissioned a 250 housing unit estate at Fanisau, in addition to senior and intermediate staff quarters at Dutse.
The state government had renovated the dilapidated Federal Housing Estates in the state, even as persons displaced by flood have been provided with alternative housing accommodation at Marawa. One interesting aspect of it is that the housing units being constructed in the state were climate specific. Turaki put it this way: 'We are working hard to bring down the cost of building houses in Jigawa State so that our people can afford them. Due to the nature of the climate, we are building weather friendly houses that will not require the use of air conditioners".
Some of the major roads the Turaki administration regards as landmark achievement in road construction include the Dundubus-Shuwarin Road, Hadejia Township Roads and the Birnin Kudu Township Roads. The Governor informed his guests that in spite of the limited resources at the disposal of the state, it has been able to construct about 237-killometre roads. Every local government headquarters according to him, boasts of a township road. Perhaps, what appears novel in the desert state is the Export Processing Zone the state has ventured into.
Prototype factories of the EPZ have sprung up across major centres within the state. What is the debt profile of the Turaki administration, especially with the recent Federal Government directive that sought to curb external borrowing by the 36 state governments? But Turaki pointed out that no economy can develop without borrowing, stressing that the United States remained the biggest borrower in the world.
He clarified that the Federal Government did not put a blanket ban on borrowing by state governments. Rather, he stated that it depends on what projects such loans are meant to execute. 'We cannot be an island. Borrowing is an integral part of running any economy all over the world. Unfortunately, we are not a producing nation. We are a nation of consumers.
And until we change our orientation from being a consuming economy to a productive one, we are not likely to make progress." This led to arguments on the situation in the country where the state governments have to wait for their monthly oil revenue allocation from the Federation Account before they could pay salaries and run their various government businesses.
Discussions veered into the vexed issue of the agitation by the oil producing states for the control of oil resources in their domain. And Turaki maintained that the agitation for resource control is a misnomer being projected by the elite in the oil producing states for selfish reasons. The agitators, he said, are getting it wrong by venting their anger on people from other parts of the country and accusing them of oppression and deprivation of their resources.
According to him, rather than blaming their fellow Nigerians for shortchanging them, they should blame the foreign oil companies for fleecing the nation of its oil resources. He said, 'Only about 18 percent of the nation's oil resources are left for the entire country. The foreign oil companies take the rest away under the guise of cash calls. So what we are all scrambling for as a nation is just about 18 percent of the oil resources."
In spite of what he enthusiastically reeled out as colourful achievements recorded by his administration, Turaki did not paint an all rosy picture of the socio-economic situation in his state. Jigawa, he said, still yearns for more funds and human resources to pilot the state to its desired destination in the years ahead. Ask him of his vision of Jigawa State in the next ten years and he would tell you: 'I want to leave behind a prosperous Jigawa State where the people will be income earners, especially the young people.
I can see an economically viable Jigawa linked by an effective communication system with highly developed human and material resources".
Critics, however, do not seem to share Turaki's vision of transforming the state. Naturally, in the vanguard of the stiff opposition to his style of administration are the Peoples Democratic Party elements in the state. To them, the man has been foisting a web of complex notion of development on a rustic and largely agrarian community who can hardly comprehend the direction in which the government is moving.
They are of the view that with his craze for technological drive, Turaki lives in a planet different from that of the people he governs. But the Governor, who was elected on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and who has been in the saddle for six years, has always shrugged these criticisms off his shoulders. The big question therefore, is: Can the state sustain the hi tech tempo after Turaki? Answers can only come after 2007 and beyond. For now, it is technology all the way.
The PUNCH, Friday, July 29, 2005