BY YUSUF ABUBAKAR IDOGU
Have you heard or seen of a government Agency with over about five hundred (5) completed & functional projects in 200 communities in a single state? I have, and what is more puzzling is the fact that this government agency has no abandoned projects.
And I am not talking about white elephants’ projects that have no real-world impact on the people especially the chunk living in the rural areas. I am talking about provision of basic social amenities to the poorest of the poor as well as communities adjudged by most agencies as hard to reach or inaccessible.
I am talking about communities you have never heard of in the news or would wonder if they exist here. I was there in many of these communities as a reporter either covering presentation of checks(Cheques) to Community Project Committees, projects flag-off, supervision of ongoing projects as well as Commissioning of projects across Kogi State.
I have seen tears of joy from countless community members I interviewed describing how they used to walk miles to either get water (just water, it doesn’t matter if it is healthy), or how they have given up sending kids to school because of distance or how they send wards to live with total strangers just to get Education.
Others have to travel miles to get medical attention while others can’t even travel at all especially during the rainy season as they have no roads to access markets, farms and nearby communities.
These are communities and people so forgotten that most of them have no single projects as evident of government presence and has stop hoping for government aids.
I am talking about communities like Aboze, Okaito, Ajekalaga, Usungwe, Anyava, Ebiya, Badoko, Idare, Owolowo, Etegi, Ajedimoku, Ogale Idi Oro, Kabawashintaki,, Avrugo, Ogidi, Iyamoye Ifeolukotun, Illai, Koji, Ikanekpo, Olowa, Igademu etc.
These are few of the communities where the community has partnered with the people to provide, schools, market, clinics, drainage systems, roads, electricity and water projects that is still serving the people till date.
Originally, the Community and Social Development Projects is a programme of the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group which was solely setup to ensure that poor people and particularly internally displaced persons (IDPs) and vulnerable people get access to improved social infrastructure (basic infrastructures) in a sustainable manner.
Sometimes in May last year, The World Bank Adadditional Funding for the project ended on 30th June, 2021. However, in the month of August,2021 the Governor Yahaya Bello administration in the state gave the Kogi State Community and Social Development agency under the leadership of the General Manager, Chief Momoh Dauda a grant of one hundred and forty (naira) million naira to continue to impact rural dwellers positively.
It is pertinent to note that Seven days after, the General Manager of the agency alongside his team was in various communities across the state to flag-off projects with a charge to communities to commence execution immediately.
The agency was also recently awarded by the World Bank as the third second most performing in government support.
Considering the impacts and the immense contribution of the Kogi State Community and Social development Agency to the New Direction Blueprint, it is only right and logical to advised that if the New Direction Government of Governor Yahaya Bello wants to continue to impact on the masses who are majorly rural dwellers and vulnerable groups, it must ensure that the agency is prioritized and funded at every step of the way.
The agency has the ability to reach the nooks and crannies of the state and therefore must be harnessed to realize it’s full potentials through its trademarked people-centered and oriented projects.
Yusuf Abubakar Idogu writes from Lokoja.
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