By Aliyu Jajirma

The glorious dawn is unarguably here with us in Kebbi State. It is interesting and worthy of note that His Excellency has, through dint of rare commitment and resolute, put an end to the hitherto fortuitous traces of infrastructural development and procured a normal occurrence for the state.

Gov. Bagudu

In the state today, in all nooks and crannies, there are awesome presence of infrastructure that have imparted meaningfully on the lives of the populace.

Before now, in Kebbi, there was the dearth of two fundamental infrastructures that are recipes for daily existence and survival nay sustenance: they are water and electricity. Consequent to the roadmap and blueprint that he had designed for the upliftment of the state, he was able to decipher the need for these two ingredients of survival. Potable water is indispensable but its presence and availability was a mirage in the state before this administration came to place. The inhabitants were made to believe that they needed extra divine help to secure succor in getting this much needed God-given gift of nature.

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Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, on coming to power, promised to put an end to that unwarranted degeneration. He sufficiently equipped the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development. He went  the extra mile to ensure that the Ministry would no longer exist only in name but live up to expectations towards delivering on  its statutory obligations.

Alhaji Usman Nura Kangiwa, the Hon. Commissioner of Water Resources and Rural Development, retorted: “His Excellency is irrevocably committed to bringing about meaningful transformation to the lives of his people and he has charged us in the ministry to leave no stone unturned in achieving that”.

With the provision of the requisite wherewithal to prosecute this onerous task, the governor, through the Hon. Commissioner for the Ministry, broke all hitherto barriers that had encumbered the provision of this much needed infrastructure.

The political will, which was the needed de facto, was also embedded in him. With this push and drive already provided by the head of the present administration in the state, the Ministry consequently came up with the needed omnibus for the execution via a stratum and a – 4 pronged approach was designed namely: provision of solar powered boreholes, construction and maintenance of water supply schemes, construction of hand pump boreholes ably complemented with construction of Earth dams.

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Consequent to this clear vision and navigational channel, the entire Kebbi State now has potable water supply in abundance. No section of the state is deprived of this shower of midas touch by His Excellency.

To date and for statistical data, the Ministry of Water Resources  has successfully provided 25 solar powered boreholes schemes at different locations in all LGAs of the state. In addition to that, the state, through the Ministry of Water Resources, has put in place structures for 18 maintained water supply schemes in various LGAs in the state including Government Girls Arabic and Islamic Secondary School at Kangiwa, Arewa Local Government.

Besides that, the state can boast of provision of effective existence of hand pump boreholes at 66 different locations in all LGAs in the state. To complement the services of these much needed structure and enhance their operational efficiency, the Ministry of Water Resources has successfully constructed 4 Earth dams in these LGAs: Bachaka Arewa, Kende Bagudo, Bani Mairuwa and Ka’oje.

Kebbi state inhabitants presently through this intellectual push and drive enjoy constant supply of potable water thus eliminating prevalence of water borne diseases which dotted all parts of the state before the coming into power of this present administration.

In furtherance of securing a complete manual for rural transformation and development of this present administration, electricity supply becomes a fait accompli. Electricity in that wise is not needed only for purposes of providing light but more importantly, needed as a recipe for growth and development.

This vital infrastructure was hitherto a no-go-area for the populace in Kebbi state before the coming into power of the administration of His Excellency Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. He mandated the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development to address the paralysis in that aspect without fail.  Electricity must be available and uninterrupted supply of it must be achieved. The Ministry took up the challenge and went to the drawing board.

Presently, there is a newly constructed 300KVA at Nassarawa area of Aliero. To address the discovered malaise effectively, a massive reconstruction and provision of HT and LT (High Tension and Low Tension) was executed and this was done evenly at strategic points in selected LGAs of the state. 13 LGAs were carefully selected for the exercise. These are: Aliero, Arewa, Maiyama, Koko/Besse, Yauri, Bagudu, Shanga, Fakai, Bunza, Danko/Wasagu, Kalgo, Birnin Kebbi and Zuru respectively.

It is trite that while the provision of stable electricity has remained intractable problem in almost all parts of Nigeria, Kebbi,  today, through the commitment, drive and vision of His Excellency, remains the only state in Nigeria where stable and uninterrupted supply of electricity is enjoyed by the populace.

This agenda of rural and urban transformation via provision of essential infrastructure which is a sine qua non for meaningful development is here with is in Kebbi. It is a story of form crust to gold in Kebbi.

• Jajirma is NUJ Chairman, Kebbi State