Sokoto State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftain Affairs, Honourable Ibrahim Dadi Adare
In this interview with select journalists, Sokoto State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftain Affairs, Honourable Ibrahim Dadi Adare maintained that, the state is empowering citizens irrespective of political or religious inclinations. He also scored the Ahmed Aliyu led APC government high on delivery of good governance: Excerpt:
QUESTION:
In 2024, your Ministry trained so many people on skills acquisition. What is the plan for 2025?
RESPONSE:
Thank you for this question. Last year, 2024 the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs being the closest to the people embarked on massive training of youths, women and the unemployed in various skills ranging from sewing, knitting, vulcanizing, welding, carpentry, perfume, cosmetics and cake baking as well as leather works and many more as a way of making them not only self reliant but also productive members of the society.
A handsome number of people of the state benefited from the training and they were all giving starter packs, equipments and the needed support by the state government.
And going by the good testimonies of how they have become change agents in their respective communities, we have concluded plans to do more of such this year. Inshallah.
QUESTION:
The government supported Small and Medium Scale enterprise which thrive mostly in the urban areas. What modality do you put in place for those from rural areas?
RESPONSE:
Well, the ministry responsible for that is the ministry for Commerce and Industry, that of Humanitarian Affairs, Budget and Economic Planning as well as that of Social welfare.
However, the good news is that, all these ministries collaborate with us, being the closest to communities to come out with modalities on how best to empower the people. Therefore, empowerment by the Governor Ahmed Aliyu led government is not restricted to people in the urban centers alone as people from the rural communities also benefits from such tremendous supports.
And do not forget that empowerment goes beyond giving and skills, we also provide tools for them. But from what we have seen last year, the greatest challenge is that some of the beneficiaries ended up selling these tools.
And to stop reoccurrence of such trend, I strongly warned during our last programme held at the Government House when we graduated about five, 500 of these youths, that we now have effective monitoring team which is responsible for ensuring that they inspect them from time to time.
And to properly achieve that goal, the ministry now have a department solely for monitoring and inspection. And I was also able to report at that event that some of those who were trained by this ministry, have been able to train others as a way of stepping down the skills learnt.
QUESTION:
There is ongoing believe in the state that those trained are either APC members or loyalists. What would you say about that?
RESPONSE
That is not true at all. Do not forget the government of Ahmed Aliyu led APC is government for all in the state and myself, his honourable commissioner for Local Government represents and oversee all the 23 LGAs in the state.
And we are doing everything possible to ensure that our people benefit, irrespective of their tribe, gender, religious belief or political affiliation. Therefore, let it be set clear that this government is government for all in Sokoto state irrespective of people’s predisposition.
QUESTION:
There is also the speculation of duplication of skill acquisition and other government interventions beneficiaries. What would you say about that?
RESPONSE:
No, reselecting an individual twice to benefit from our government interventions is not possible. Do not forget that the whole process is inter-sectorial. Some of these interventions have to be through the ministry for Budget and Economic Planning, in collaboration with that of social welfare and Sokoto State Small Scale Medium Enterprise Development Agency Agency (SOSMEDA) who is spearheading the activity.
Beneficiaries are registered from across the various local government areas of the state.
They are duly registered and verified by a committee which I happens to be part of as well. And by the social register which we have, despite names could be the same, I can assure you that the individuals are different. For instance, you might have Ibrahim Mohammed in one village and have Ibrahim Mohammed in another village again. The fact that the name is the same does not make them one person. Therefore, we are always very vigilant and I can assure everybody that there is no duplication of names or any individual benefiting from this state government skills acquisition and interventions multiple times.
QUESTION:
It’s on record that your ministry has been sponsoring students for medical courses. What is the position now?
RESPONSE:
Yes, such sponsorship and support for medical courses is still ongoing, and will be a continues one. As we speak, we have students that we are sponsoring to study nursing, community midwifery, and the host other medical related courses across various schools.
And the justification for such sponsorship is based on the fact that, medical courses is so important because you cannot build primary health centers without having educated staff to man them.
And at the same time, we also provide the needed medicaments on daily basis. We disperse drugs to the various local government areas depending on their requests and needs. So we will continue to make provision of the drugs as far as the budget is concerned, and we will certainly provide such sponsorship for our students. And again, we also continue to support by engaging them after graduation to work in these health centers.
QUESTION:
To help curb insecurity, the state government established, engaged and built offices for Community Guards in some LGAs, what is the situation now?
RESPONSE:
Well, prior to the establishment of Community Guards Corps by our hard working result oriented Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, we have some LGAs that are prone to insecurity.
And that explains why the Community Guard Corps became necessary. Offices were built for them in the high risk LGAs. Those recruited and trained were the locals who were given the needed equipment and support to complement the conventional security agencies efforts towards bringing lasting peace to all troubled axis in the state.
As we speak, they are there, and are working tirelessly everyday. I’m sure you must have heard what is happening at Sokoto East Senatorial District currently. The establishment of Community Guards Corps in collaboration with conventional security agencies is helping to reduce the incidences of attacks in that Senatorial district lately.
QUESTION:
What will be your message to the people of the State, as far as this present administration is concerned?
RESPONSE:
Well, I’m happy with this government like many of you are too. And the reasons are very obvious. The governor, His Excellency Ahmed Aliyu has delivered good governance beyond imagination in just less than two years in office.
Yes, you can see that within this space of one and a half years, the Ahmed Aliyu led government has been able to deliver more than the previous government, who spent eight years.
You can see what is happening within Sokoto metropolis and in the rural areas. The network of completed and ongoing roads. The multiple developmental projects across the length and breath of Sokoto. The fair subsidizing of grains to the people of the state to help cushion the effect of subsidy removal.
The donation of over a hundred vehicles and motorcycles to security agencies in the state to help curb insecurity.
The massive renovation and construction of secondary schools as well as drastic improvement in environmental sanitation, water supply, and lost more.
I think all these are good testament that a lot is already been achieved by this government. Therefore, all that is required of the good people of Sokoto state is to continue to support this government with prayer and join hands with the governor to do more. Our governor, His Excellency Ahmed Aliyu is ready to accept anybody who is willing to join us, if such a person is concerned about the progress of the state.
