The Kogi State House of Assembly Committee on Information and Strategy has commended the Executive Governor of the State, Alh. Yahaya Bello for his commitment to information infrastructure across the state, saying the massive turnaround is testament to the determination of the Government to promote grassroots sensitisation.
The commendation was given in Lokoja, Tuesday by the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Umar Ahmed Tenimu and a Member of the Committee, Hon. Collins Musa during an oversight visit to the agencies under the Ministry of Information and Communications.
After a brief meeting with the Commissioner for Information and Communications at his office in Lokoja, the Committee proceeded to the Graphic Newspapers House, Government Printing Press and also moved to Mount Patti to inspect facilities at the State Broadcasting Corporation.
Speaking to newsmen at the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation Studio on Mont Patti, the legislators hailed Governor Yahaya Bello for procuring state of the art transmitters for the station, saying the state can match any other state in the area of information dissemination.
The Committee members however frowned at the shoddy job done by the Contractor that handled the studio at Mount Patti, saying he will be “called back to complete the job and do it better”.
In the words of Hon. Tenimu, “the standard of the job is below what we know GYB for and we won’t allow this to stand. The Contractor must come and meet up with the GYB standard.
“Indigenous contractors must reciprocate government gesture by ensuring standards are complied with. Our Governor is known for standards and also for ensuring his projects can stand the test of time”, he said.
On his part, Hon. Collins Musa representing Omala State Constituency said the Governor would be remembered for good for his commitment to information infrastructure in the state.
“I did not know that the Government has the best Printing Press in Kogi State. We will have to raise publicity around and about the Press to make it commercially viable to the state.
“As legislators, we will look at the right legislations to make sure Government printing jobs are not done outside of the press. We will make a strong recommendation to the next Assembly to remove all costs of printing from all MDAs so that they can come back to the best Printing Press in the state. But beyond that, all state information apparatus should publicise the Press so that we can generate a lot of revenue from there”.
Hon. Musa also called on the State Ministry of Works to include clauses in building contracts that will ensure contractors put in place measures to guarantee the quality of materials used.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Kingsley Fanwo thanked the Committee Chairman and members for the oversight function, assuring the Committee that the Ministry will remain unwaveringly committed to ensuring grassroots sensitisation.
“In the history of the state, no Governor has invested in the information sector like Alh. Yahaya Bello. He has given us everything needed to function effectively. We cannot afford to disappoint him”, he said.
