The Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago, has stated his determination to make certain that the state receives a fresh start that will be something that both the people who live there and those who come to visit will be proud of.
Bago provided this assurance, even though the state is facing significant security challenges. These challenges include repeated attacks from bandits and kidnappers who flood the wide forests of Niger State as well as the highways of some of the state’s local governments.
Nevertheless, the nagging question of how the governor intends to accomplish his mission in the face of the unrelenting security challenge came to the forefront as a result of the observation made by Bob Lez.
a project manager for one of the state contractors, CCECC, which is in charge of the transportation and construction work for the road.
During a recent tour of the ongoing urban renewal work, which was conducted by the Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure, Alhaji Suleiman Umar, and the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mustapha Ndajiwo, Lez brought up the issue of the security challenges that the construction company is currently facing.
While Arewa was inquiring about the difficulties that they encountered while carrying out their duties, Lez requested additional security for the workers. This was done to ensure that CCECC could finish the contract within the allotted time.
According to Lez, “The state can provide us with some additional security to assist us because of the security challenges that we are facing in Niger State.”
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Ndajiwo assured him that the state had put measures in place to ensure that insecurity did not pose any challenge to the execution of the job and delivering the project at the agreed time.
“The problem of insecurity is a problem that affects everyone. You can see that nothing has taken place, but on our end, we won’t want to take things for granted. We are already making plans with the Department of Homeland Security, and in fact, some efforts have already been made to mitigate against any potential security challenges that may arise. On the other hand, we do not face any security challenges; however, we are conducting a significant amount of risk assessment to guarantee that we do not take anything for granted.
“We have been on a monitoring exercise for a few days now with the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to look at the critical projects under the Urban Renewal and Road Construction of the State.
“Generally, we’re impressed with the progress that has been made. We’re delighted with the contractors that they are meeting the quality assurance standards,” he said.
Umar, who also spoke on the monitoring exercise, stressed that part of the aim was to identify some projects that were stalled and why they were not completed and to find ways to factor them into ongoing projects.
“We don’t have any problems with the projects. Through the exercise, we were able to find out some of the old projects, the reasons why they were stalled, and how we are going to propose solutions to old projects that were awarded by the precious administrations.
“We don’t have any problems with all the new projects that were started by this administration.
“We are working with their contractors, and so far so good, we don’t have any problem with the Urban Renewal projects,” he affirmed.
However, both commissioners expressed dissatisfaction and displeasure at the performance of the contractors handling the Bida-Minna Road project being undertaken by Dantata and Sawoe, stressing that the construction firm under-performed and has not measured up with the funds made available to it.
They disclosed that the government may have no option but to terminate the contract.
“The Bida-Minna Road, the one that is being handled by Dantata and Sawoe, has a few hitches. We have visited them today and we’re going to write them a letter, sit with their managers, and find out what exactly the problem is and how we are going to advise the government on how to go about it Initially, we wanted to terminate that contract, and they gave us reasons and the problems that they have been having, and it seems they have not been able to surmount those challenges.
“So, we are going to advise the government to do the appropriate thing,” Umar said.
