By Godwin Agia, Jalingo
The Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in Taraba State, Dr. Aminu Jauro Hassan, has expressed his passion for rural development.
Jauro who disclosed this while interacting with our correspondent in Jalingo said that government’s presence has not been visible enough in the past especially for a metropolitan local Government.
According to him, his motivation stems from the negligence his people suffered in the past and his desire to complement the efforts of the State Governor, Agbu Kefas, in providing dividends of democracy to all citizens.
Jauro said that the lack of government presence was a significant concern in the metropolitan local government before he took office. However, his administration has made significant strides in addressing this issue.
He highlighted some of his achievements to include education support for undergraduates, free registration of JAMB for students and provision of education materials to students, in line with the free education policy of the State Governor.
“You see, some of us decided to represent the people, not for our own personal interest, but to change the narrative for good. Before I came on board, the lack of government presence was of great concern for a metropolitan local government.
“By the grace of God, we have been able to turn things around to a very large extent. We have been able to construct culverts and bridges and graded roads in several strategic locations across the local government to ease movement.
“We have also improved most of our Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs), offset medical bills for several persons and generally, improved the health care service for our people.
“We have also completed the construction of a skills acquisition center to train women and youth on tailoring, beads making, soap making, poultry farming, catering, computer training and other skills. This has helped to take a lot of restive youths off the streets and gotten them gainfully engaged”.
He said that the council has also rehabilitated 48 hand boreholes across the ten wards in the council to provide access to portable water to prevent Cholera and other waterborne diseases.
He explained that his administration has leveraged on the efforts of the State Governor to drastically improve the security situation in the local government through engagement with relevant stakeholders and giving the youth a sense of belonging.
He noted that the local government has also created investments that will benefit the future by building plazas, renovating existing facilities and making the local government generally comfortable for traders and other residents.
