Governor Of The Year
On assumption of office as the Governor of Niger State on May 29, 2023, Alhaji Mohammed Umar Bago secured a farm estate of about 1.2 million hectares of land for an agriculture revolution aimed at feeding the nation. For this project, he is working with partners from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, India and China.
The effort is paying off as food from Niger State, a state of more 700, 000 square meters, is helping to address food shortage in the country. From the bumper harvests in the state, food items that were earlier aggregated for export were brought out and sold at subsidised price to reduce inflation at a point in time.
Indeed, his target in the agricultural programme is to feed the nation with food coming from Niger State alone and to start exporting to other West African states by 2027; and to have the capacity to feed the entire Africa by 2030. In the current season, the state has started harvesting about one million metric tons of corn field, among other farm produce, towards this end.
Governor Bago is making a commendable effort in the area of animal husbandry, working with The Netherlands and another strong partnership with the United Arab Emirate (UAE), with an MoU for carbon squassation towards transitioning one million people from using normal fossil fuel in powering their stoves to clean energy stoves.
Of note is his government’s SPU called NiSolar-Niger Solar- an initiative to transition one million households from using the national grid – with about 10, 000 homes already enjoying it.
Infrastructure development, urban renewal and green economy initiative are the focus of his administration. The governor has constructed over 1,500 kilometers of state and federal roads, thereby enhancing the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Under his administration, education and healthcare have also received adequate attention. The ongoing construction of the Ibrahim Babangida University Teaching Hospital in Minna will provide citizens with access to quality medical care, reduce foreign medical tourism and enhance the overall well-being of the population.
When he became governor in 2023, the Internally Generated Revenue of Niger State hovered between N500 million and N700 million. In less than two years after, the state is almost hitting N10 billion in IGR. This was achieved by blocking the loopholes and digitalising a lot of collection and reporting system, with transparency as watch word in the application.
The Board of Editors chose him as winner of The Sun Governor of the Year Award for 2024.