Gov Simon Lalong of Plateau state

By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos

In a bid to raise its internally generated revenue, IGR, officials of the Plateau State government have agreed that investments in the three areas of agriculture, mining and tourism should be intensified so as to create jobs and ensure sustainable development in the State.

The officials in a communique issued at the end of its five-day retreat also agree that there must be a paradigm shift from dependence on Federal Allocation for overheads and capital projects towards greater reliance on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), if the State is to make any headway economically.

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To this end, all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies were directed to embark on creative internal revenue Generation from 2020, with particular mention of the Plateau State Government’s adoption of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which is believed would go a long way in creating jobs in the agro-allied sector.

According to the communique drafted by Professor John Wade, Hon. Yakubu Dati and four others, “Plateau State Government held a Strategic Policy Retreat for Members of the State Executive Council, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Key Government Agencies and Departments at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS), Kuru, from Monday, 28th October – Friday, 1st November 2019.

“In line with the central theme of the retreat: “New Imperatives For Sustaining The Rescue Agenda In The Next Level”, the primary objective of the retreat was to prepare and equip the recently appointed Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries and other key government functionaries with relevant insights into the Policy Thrust of the second phase.

“The retreat inspired and encouraged participants on the need to develop an ingenious plan of action in the face of dwindling financial inflow of resources from the Federal Allocation and explore opportunities for inflow of investments beyond IGR and FAAC.”

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They added, “In the end, participants agreed that investments in the three areas of comparative advantage in the State namely, Agriculture, Mining and Tourism be intensified in order to boost revenue generation, job creation, and sustainable development in the State. That there must be a complete paradigm shift from dependence on Federal Allocation for overheads and capital projects towards greater reliance on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“It was resolved that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies must embark on creative Internal Revenue Generation from 2020 by leveraging additional funding sources. We commended the State Government for adopting the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) and the subsequent establishment of the State Livestock Transformation Office to facilitate ranching which will go a long way in resolving Farmers/Herders conflict and creating jobs in the agro-allied sector.”

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