Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya alongside the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami flagged-off the Extended Special Public Works Programme ( ESPW) of the Federal Government designed to provide short term job to 1000 women and youths in each of the eleven local government areas of the state.
Performing the ceremony at the new banquet hall of the Government House, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya described the initiative by the Federal Government as an important step towards rejigging the socio-economic activities of the people, particularly in the face of the covid-19 Pandemic which is still being felt the world over.
“In Gombe state, we are delighted with this programme in which at least one thousand persons per local Government which translates to a total of 11,000 of our citizens are engaged in this laudable programme that will enable them get some stipends to make them work and move forward. For us who are not that wealthy, if you give somebody twenty thousand I think after a while he might make some savings to start a business that can eventually generate more money in the future. So let us not neglect the benefits this twenty thousand can bring”.
Culling from the Minister of Communications’ earlier remarks, Governor Inuwa Yahaya said public works are community engagements that citizens usually offer for free, describing the twenty thousand naira stipends per month as an encouragement to the beneficiaries to work and improve on their various communities.
The Governor thanked the Federal Government for the laudable gesture, urging the beneficiaries to take advantage of the programme for the overall benefit and development of the State.
“We have identified so many ways which individual local Government can benefit from the programme and in order to achieve that we have worked out modalities with NDE State coordinator, so I will like to urge you and to encourage you as well to do more because you wouldn’t know what will come after this”.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya used the occasion to eulogise Dr. Pantami for his fervent support to the state since becoming a member of the Federal Executive Council.
“I cannot count the number of projects the minister has brought to Gombe and I cannot count the number of Federal Government parastatals under his watch that he has directed to come and establish zonal and state offices in Gombe State and I cannot also count the number of times Dr. Pantami has directly called to tell me the efforts he has made for the benefit of the state”.
Earlier speaking, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Sheikh Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami said the ESPWP is one of the initiatives of president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration aimed at mitigating the negative impact of covid-19 Pandemic on the citizens and creating job opportunities.
He called on the organised private sector to support the Government at all levels because according to him the economy of the country relies more on the private than public sector.
The Acting Director General of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE represented by the State coordinator of the agency, Mustapha Hassan said the Special Public Works Programme is centred on community service, involving drainage clearing, vegetation control, feeder road, irrigation, green wall and orchards maintenance among others.
The chairperson selection committee of the Extended Special Public Works Programme Mrs. Abigail Abashi said beneficiaries of the exercise will be engaged in active community services that are peculiar to their localities and will be paid the sum of 20,000 per month for a period of three months.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya later led the minister as well as other dignitaries to inspect some of the working materials provided to ease the implementation of the programme in Gombe.
