States look inward as oil price instability squeezes Federal Allocation

The instability in the oil market, which is significantly witnessing a drop in oil production globally, has continued to raise concern in some quarters that the Federal Government may sometimes soon halt the sharing of the monthly allocation to states.

The development in the oil industry is already pushing some state governments to look inward in the effort to diversify their economy and harness the states’ potentials aimed at increasing the revenue profile, such that would tackle the many challenges in their respective states.

Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, made the observation while speaking at the Educational and Entrepreneurship Summit organised by the Nasarawa State Students Association (NASSA) in Lafia, the state capital.

Governor Sule however called on the people of the state to support his administration as it works toward making the state self-reliant in terms of revenue generation.

According to Sule, until Nasarawa State wakes up to become independent of the federal allocation, the state will remain in danger.

The governor therefore appealed to elders in the state to support his administration achieve its goals, stressing that governance entailed more than collecting federal allocation and paying salaries.

“We should not just be satisfied and happy that we are getting money free. For some of us that spent our lives in the oil industry, this oil is going down. Whether we like it or not, one day all this federal allocation that is coming will not come.

“We have to wake up to be able to say we are independent and that we are generating our revenue by ourselves,” the governor said.

While being optimistic that the state is at an advantage, having being endowed with mineral resources, agriculture as well as its proximity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), he called on the elders to not only identify with him, but to support the vision of his administration aimed at taking Nasarawa State to the next level of development.

The governor, who spoke on the theme: Improving Education and Developing Entrepreneurship, highlighted plans by his administration to improve on public schools structures as well as ensure that only competent and qualified teachers were employed to teach, particularly at the primary school level.

While lamenting the prevailing decay in both structure and quality of education in public schools, he said he would have failed if with his present position, he didn’t do something to bring back public schools to its past glory.

“Schools are more than structures. We have to be able to provide them with the right teachers, trained teachers, who will be able to train these students, especially at the primary school level,” he said.

He stressed that already a committee had been put in place to take needs assessments across all public schools with the view to addressing the challenges.

Fati Sabo Jimeta, state commissioner for education, described the theme of the summit as apt and significant, as according to her, it captures two fundamental factors in the development of any country.

Fati commended the strides recorded by the governor, saying it was a testimony of the seriousness the administration attached to the issue of youth development.