We Built Katsina With N39m Monthly Allocation Without Debt, Says Ex-Commissioner

• Tasks leaders on prudence management of public resources 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The former Katsina State Commissioner for Finance, Senator Ibrahim Ida, has revealed how successive military governments in the state’s formative years developed major infrastructure despite receiving between N35 million and N39 million monthly from the federation account.

Ida, who served as the state’s Commissioner for Finance during the military regime of Colonel Lawrence Onoja, said they rely on what he termed meagre monthly allocations from the Federal Government to build the state without domestic or foreign debts.

Delivering a lecture titled: ‘Katsina State: Ancient in Memory But Young in Statehood’, at a Dinner and Award Night held on Wednesday to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the creation of Katsina State in 1987, Ida said the military administrations had judiciously managed the state’s limited resources to drive its development.

He said Katsina’s monthly receipt from the federation account during the period was between N35 million and N39 million, while internally generated revenue was estimated at between N3 million and N5 million monthly.

The Wazirin Katsina explained that the state’s recurrent expenditure was about N12 million monthly, leaving between N20 million and N23 million for capital expenditure.

Ida said: “Our monthly receipt from the Federation Account was between N35 million to N39 million monthly. The IGR was N3 million to N5 million, made up mostly of pay-as-you-earn and resulting taxes. The current expenditure for the whole state was about N12 million. The balance of N20 to N23 million went to capital expenditures.

“I must stress here that there was absolutely no domestic debt incurred. I cannot recall us ever borrowing to meet either the current or capital needs of the state. Despite the limited resources, we were able to undertake several major projects that laid the foundation for the state’s development.”

He stressed that the state, under the military government, sometimes constructed federal facilities with its own resources and subsequently submitted claims to the Federal Government for reimbursement.

He cited the construction of the present Police Headquarters and the Federal Medical Centre (now Federal Teaching Hospital), among other federal projects, as examples of facilities developed through the arrangement by the then military government.

According to him, the government of the period operated with a cabinet of about 15 members, without the large number of political appointees and advisers that characterise contemporary governance.

Ida, therefore, called on Nigeria’s current leaders to ensure prudent management of public resources, warning that the expansion of government machinery must be matched by greater value to citizens.

While noting that “with very little resources, if there is sincerity, much can be achieved”, the erstwhile commissioner said the lesson from the state’s early years was not a return to military government but the need for prudence and commitment in the management of public resources.

He, however, described the creation of Katsina State as the culmination of a long-standing aspiration that gathered momentum years before 1987 through meetings, memoranda, consultations and advocacy by prominent individuals and traditional authorities.