Bauchi Governor moves to contain hunger, as food prices climaxes

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

Worried by the soaring prices of food in the country, Governor Bala Mohammed on Thursday summoned his cabinet members to an emergency Executive Council (EXCO) meeting to proffer solution to the the problem.

Speaking before the meeting proper, the Governor charged his cabinet to device ways of adding value to the living condition of the people of Bauchi state.

According to him, the fall of Naira has rendered salaries and wages of the civil servants grossly inadequate to cater for their family members.

The Governor who noted that many initiatives have been doled out to improve the living condition of the citizens by his administration, added that as a government, they are on course to serve the people better.

“What we need more is team work, to be more serious in terms of knowing that as members of the state executive council, you are the representatives of the governor and the government, as such, on your own right, you must take initiatives by doing things that will add value to common good of the state”, he said.

Bala Mohammed encouraged members of his cabinet not to wait until they are told to do something that they believed within their own assessment are good for the state.

“We have rolled out projects and Programmes, but projects are not about concrete, it’s about the social impact that will have, and in the social sector you can see what we are doing, health, education, humanitarian services and other things”, the Governor added.

“I call this meeting because it’s almost an emergency because there is hunger and anger, the common man does not decipher between the federal responsibility and state responsibility”, Governor Bala said.

He further explained, “we are all a govt, it is not easy to just pass the bug and say it’s the federal government responsibilities, it is all our responsibilities, I don’t normally believe in blame game, as a state we should try to be an island of good governance”.

“Our food security is in jeopardy and we have to look at things passionately. Of course we are at the center in the country and we are almost the food basket”, he said.

The Governor who lamented that every week or every day trailers of food are leaving the state to other places, said that the state government doing everything possible to ensure relief for the people of Bauchi state.

“The best we can do is to pay salaries and wages but even the salaries and wages are grossly inadequate to put food on the table and so we should be ready”, Governor Bala noted.

“We really have to be focused and see what we can do, it is almost time up for emergency, the main thrust is food on the table and how we can step down the tide of disgruntlement from ill feelings. You can almost touch it, it is everywhere”, the Governor said.

Bala Mohammed therefore, called on members of the council to initiate Programmes and projects within their respective ministries and MDAs that will add value to common good that will cushion the effect of the current food insecurity in the country.

Briefing journalists after the EXCO meeting, state Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture, Professor Simon Yalams said that the council resolved to constitute a Committee with a view to addressing the current food insecurity in the state.