BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has charged states and local governments to exploit alternative sources of  revenue in order to help them depend less on money from oil.

RMAFC Chairman, Mr. Elias Mbam, said it was imperative for the states and local governments to map out other source of generating revenues, such as focusing more attention on the development of natural resources as agriculture, solid minerals and tourism in their domain.

Mbam, who gave the challenge in his office in Abuja when he received in audience a high-powered delegation from Kaduna State government, led by the Governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, yesterday,  said the commission would do all within its powers to assist all the states in the federation in exploring other avenues that would pave way for increased revenue and reduce over-dependence on oil revenue.

He also said that if all the natural resources such as mine, agriculture and tourism were developed, it would give room for establishment of manufacturing companies that would reduce unemployment in their various domain, while the Federal Government would be able to concentrate on provision of social amenities and necessary infrastructure needed by the citizens.

Earlier, the Governor who was represented by Madami Garba Madami, the state Commissioner for Economic Planning, said the state was endowed with a total cultivable land area of about 2.5 million hectares.

He explained that the state, with a population of 6,066,562 people according to 2006 Census, and an annual growth rate of 3.2 per cent, was the third most populous state in the country after Kano and Lagos states.