A political analyst and Special Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Hon. Famous Daunemigha, called for reviewing the N180 billion palliatives to states.
Reacting to the approval of the National Economic Council to disburse N180 billion to each state across the country, in a statement on Saturday, Daunemigha, though issues of palliatives to some states are necessary, what the Niger Delta need at the moment is an emergency on deplorable roads from Ologbo and Sapele roads in Edo state, the East-West road from Bayelsa to Rivers State and Onne-Eleme, in Rivers State.
“This is where we always get it wrong. The government mainly probably intends to solve problems but creates more problems. Look at the Niger Delta region, where I come from; all the major roads are bad. Let’s say we have six Governors of the six states, and if you have N30 billion, you decide to pump it into the East-West road and other federal roads around it. You will discover that we added more value to lives in the region than sharing N5 billion.”
“In some cases, you will discover that some managers of the N5 billion funds will manage it. They will probably make a mess of it, and the common man, who is probably waiting for it, will never see it. My take is that the Federal government is missing the point and thinking of solving a problem by creating another problem.”