From Beatrice GONDYI, Bauchi
Governor, Bala Mohammed has inaugurated Coronavirus (COVID-19) economic recovery Committee with a mandate to identify alternative sources of income for the state.
The governor who stated this during the inauguration held at the Banquet Hall, Government House Bauchi said it has 2 weeks to submit its report adding that he committed was inaugurated to identify clearly alternative sources of funds that will augment the current revenue of the state.
According to him, other terms of reference of the committee include suggesting ways of developing economic growth measures that will sustain the state during and after Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and to make any other useful recommendations incidental to their assignment.
Bala Mohammed then tasked members of the committee to bring their wealth of knowledge and experience in order to ensure the success of their assigned responsibilities.
He said the devastating effect of COVID-19 can be measured in terms of the socioeconomic suffocation of all the sectors of the state’s economy and on the daily resources that accrue to the National and the State’s Treasury.
“The Global Oil Prices have monumentally slipped below our logical explanations, thus exerting a distractive effect on the daily lives of our people, especially the vulnerable population of women, children, unemployed youth and more sadly the elders of the population.
“Bauchi State, on the other hand, being a landlocked state with high levels of poverty is worse affected by the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.
“This is because our internal capacity to respond to this type of economic shocks is very weak and thus we are left with no option but to chart a new course for creating the impossibilities for Economic survivalist.”
The Governor who stressed the need for all and sundry to put hands on deck for the economic revival of the state recalled that, before this economic doom, the state budget was over 70 per cent recurrent in terms of implementation.
“But we need to move forward as a state and I believe we can do it. This explains why we carefully selected you to bring your wealth of experience to bear in moving the state out of this quagmire.”
The committee with the Honourable Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Aminu Gamawa as Chairman, while Commissioners of Commerce, Culture and Tourism, Health, Women Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development as members.
Other members are the Director-General of Bauchi SDG, Chairperson of BASOVCA while the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning Yahuza Adamu is to serve as Secretary.
