Masari and his investment drive
Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari’s determination to change the focus and fortunes of the state and its people for the better has again been highlighted by the plans to host the Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit 2016. Repeatedly and mischievously, some people have tried to distract him with propaganda-powered attacks on the credibility of […]
Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari’s determination to change the focus and fortunes of the state and its people for the better has again been highlighted by the plans to host the Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit 2016. Repeatedly and mischievously, some people have tried to distract him with propaganda-powered attacks on the credibility of his administration, but Governor Masari has not yielded any ground in his relentless pursuit of accelerated socio-economic development through innovative initiatives.
Given the onerous responsibility of delivering good governance that Governor Masari bears, it will be myopic of him to dissipate needed attention on political chicanery. With the serious challenges of sustainable discharge of statutory obligations to civil servants, huge infrastructural decay, deplorable state of health care delivery, access to qualitative basic education among other formidable obstacles, he cannot afford to be distracted. He must focus on the change charter that earned him the popular mandate of the masses and implement policies that clearly signal a decisive departure from the past.
One of the cardinal concerns of Governor Masari is the economic liberation of the state from the decades of over-dependence on federal funding. In the deceptive confidence of regular naira and dollar handouts from the Federation Account, former governors of Katsina State did nothing to boost the economy.
But that is about to change with the Masari administration’s latest innovative initiative for launching the state into a new era of self-dependence for sustainable economic viability in the form of the forthcoming economic and investment summit aptly focused on ‘Unlocking Investment Potentials for Sustainable Development”. It represents the first good foot forward in the quest for better times in Katsina State. This initiative stands a good chance of succeeding because it is hinged on the undisputable heritage of natural resources and vantage geographical position with which Katsina State is enviably endowed and of which local and international investors are desirous.
Specifically, Katsina State is the commercial terminus and interface with the West and North African sub-regions on two important economic corridors in the country- the Lagos-Kano- Jibia Corridor (LAKAJI) and the K2M or Kano-Katsina-Maradi corridor. LAKAJI commences from Lagos and passes through ten states before terminating in the border town of Jibia, where the Nigerian border with Niger meet while K2M was earmarked basically to capture the dynamic economic factors associated with food security, movement of goods and services, movement of capital and promotion of long existing trade activities of the region. This has been recognized and patronized for long as a national economic zone connected to many West African regional markets.
The advantageous position of Katsina State in relation to these two economic corridors stems from its capacity as the hub of the multifarious socio-economic activities and transactions that they have been recognized for. This is apart from the state’s endowment of vast expanses of fertile lands suitable for a range of agrarian endeavours as well as valuable natural resources. Any purposeful and concerted initiative that sets out to facilitate resuscitation and expansion of the explored and other potentially-profitable dimensions of the commercial, agricultural, export-import commodities, transportation as well as solid mineral resources and opportunities of these corridor-areas such as the forthcoming 2016 Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit is indeed welcome.
Muhammadu Sani, No.51, Daura Street, Kofar Kaura Layout, Katsina.