A MEMBER of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Daniel Ishaya Gani, has called on the re-elected Governor Danbaba Suntai to give priority to rural communities to check massive drift of rural dwellers to urban centres, particularly Jalingo, the state capital.
According to him, rather than expending the entire resources of the state on Jalingo, the government should use the next four years to develop the rural areas so that many people will feel comfortable residing in their communities.
Gani, who was as well re-elected in the just-concluded House of Assembly election, wondered why rural communities have continued to suffer relegation in spite of their massive contribution to the economic growth of the state and the nation at large.
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday in Jalingo, the lawmaker said: “the situation in the rural areas is very pathetic, even though the state government has being trying, the effort is not enough. If you go to some communities, you would weep for the people there. In some of the remotest parts of my constituency that I visited before the election, I felt sad for them because of the absence of infrastructural facilities there.
“I believe if we can provide potable water and other amenities, we don’t need to go back there for any campaign next time. Moreover, I am calling on the government of the day to give more attention to the development of rural areas”.
“All these programmes and policies and projects have been concentrated in the state capital. There is need to construct at least one road linking the rural communities to urban centres”.
The lawmaker also stressed the need to discourage over-dependence on government and on white-collar jobs, suggesting immediate empowerment of unemployed youths scattered in the nooks and crannies of the state.
“I would on my own make sure I empower the youth by discouraging them from depending on the government. If possible, all the 98 polling units I have in my constituency would be provided with boreholes each by me”, he said.
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Taraba lawmaker urges focus on rural development