…COMMENDS SEEFOR FOR PROVIDING 10, 000 JOBS FOR YOUTHS
Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah (rtd) has decried Nigeria’s slow approach to tackling its developmental challenges, especially in improving life
expectancy, literacy rate, access to water, roads and others, when
compared to its neighbours.
Rear Rear Admiral John-Jonah (rtd) stated this while delivering a key
note speech at the opening ceremony of the State Employment and
Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) World Bank Implementation Support
Mission (ISM) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
He said some state governments focus on developing the urban areas,
while the rural areas receive little or no attention, stating that, Bayelsa State has keyed into the SEEFOR project as it was established to change the narrative of lack of development in the rural areas.
The Deputy Governor, who commended SEEFOR for not only providing over 10,000 jobs for the teeming youths in the state, but also for constructing roads for farmers to evacuate their farm produce,
acknowledged that the successful execution of SEEFOR projects would
attract more projects to the state.
According to him, the greatest challenge facing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country is access to funds that would attract
minimal interest, enough time to execute projects and pay back loans,
and called for the four participating states’ to have equal SEEFOR
assessment, participation and benefit.
He enjoined participants from the States, including the delegations from
Edo, Delta and Rivers States, to take the training serious, especially
in the area of Public Financial Management, while also urging them to pass on the knowledge.
He said: “We have always been faced with very serious problems of
development. Where you have some semblance of development in the urban areas and you go to the rural areas, development is non-existence. That is one of the reasons that when SEEFOR came, Bayelsa State took it very serious. It allowed the state to ensure that public works penetrated
every corner of this state.
In addition to providing employment opportunities for our teeming
youths, about 10,000 youths have been employed into the public works.
We have also taken development to the rural areas. In the agricultural
sector, one of greatest challenges is how to evacuate our farm
products, because the roads are inaccessible but to some extent, SEEFOR has contributed immensely by creating access to these areas.
As a country, Nigeria’s development indicators like life expectancy,
literacy rate, access to water and others, when compared to our
neighbours is not encouraging and there is nothing to be proud of. We
have a duty to at least make one of this indicators work for others to
key in.
The successful execution of SEEFOR projects in the state would attract
more projects to the state, so i enjoin you (participants) to take this seriously, especially the area of financial management.
In his remarks, SEEFOR Project Task Team Leader, Perminder Brar, said the
overall allocation for the SEEFOR project is $480m of which 65% is
from the World Bank and 35% from the European Union, noting that the allocation for Bayelsa State is $55m.
Brar, who noted that, over $1m would be spent monthly in the next 2 years in Bayelsa, said SEEFOR would provide employment for 6000 youths, start 40 new projects during the next 12 months, as well as give support to the crafts, technical and vocational training centres in Bayelsa
state.
On his part, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Joshua
Ongore said, the goal and objectives of the SEEFOR project is in line with the developmental agenda of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led
administration, which is focused on youth empowerment, through training,
entrepreneurship and employment.
He described the training programme as an innovation, as it provides
the opportunity for peer learning across the states, adding that the
SEEFOR project is active and responding to the challenges of adapting to new ways of doing things better.
