Kwara To Report Ghost Workers To EFCC

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Ghost workers in the state of harmony got an unfavourable message last week. Kwara State governor, Mallam  Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq submitted that cases of ghost workers discovered in the state will henceforth be reported  to the anti-graft agency, the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) for investigation.  

A group, the Kwara Youth Centre,( KYC) visited him at the Government House, Ilorin, last week Wednesday and the governor used the opportunity to sound a note of warning to those involved in the acts.  He also disclosed that the state would benefit from the N200bn funds set aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria to promote innovative ideas and entrepreneurship, adding that talks have reached an advanced stage for the state to be considered for the funds that would establish innovation hubs in the area of high-end movie production and textile manufacturing. ‘We are talking with the CBN on the innovation hub and I’m glad to inform you that our proposal to access the fund is receiving favourable ratings. When the hubs are created, they would generate at least 2000 jobs in the area of movie production and textile designs’, he said.  

The governor added that the hubs would attract European and Chinese firms and lead to technology transfer to the indigenous workers. Noting that he envisions a state where government would create the right environment for individuals to create wealth and employment rather than people relying exclusively on the government to give them job, the governor also restated commitment to agricultural value chains, especially in the area of cashew and sugarcane. 

Kwara State, according to the governor,  with the right investment in infrastructure, has the potentials to be the number one producer of sugar in Africa. He promised that Kwara State under him would pay counterpart funding to access funds set aside by the Federal Government and the multilateral institutions in order to drive growth in the grassroots, especially in the area of education and the provision of basic amenities. Making reference to the  meeting held with the Directors of Personnel Management (DPMs) who are currently in charge of the third-tier level of government in the state, AbdulRazaq  said he would pursue e-governance  in order to fast-track governance. ‘I told the DPMs that anybody who desires to work with government must be computer literate. We have to do things differently. We have got to run efficient government’ he said. He, however, warned them against mismanagement of public funds, adding that his administration would frown at anybody making away with public resources.  Convener ,  KYC, Kayode Oyin-Zubair  in his speech urged the governor to focus on empowering the youths in various ways and establishing economic clusters for different categories of entrepreneurs, artisans and the creative sector. The group also asked the governor to open up Kwara with access roads, stating that such will boost agriculture and other initiatives of the administration. The governor later inducted the KYC as an advisory board to the government.