How Governor Bello is spreading development in rural areas through Kogi RAAMP

The Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) is a child of necessity, borne-out out of the need to ensure a functional rural transport system that would provide access to centres of employment, health and educational institutions, maintain vital links between villages and towns among other important reasons that would arrest rural – urban drift. Nigeria is without doubt a developing nation with majority of its natural and human resources located in the rural areas. These areas require basic infrastructure to give citizens improved socioeconomic boost to enhance overall national development.

The importance of rural development in contemporary Nigerian society cannot be over-emphasized in view of the improvement in the economic, social and political conditions of rural dwellers. As a strategy, rural development ensures rapid national development, hence experts asserts that rural development is one of the major planks upon which national development policies and implementation are hinged.” Rural development has become national imperative in Nigeria as statistics show that a larger proportion of the countrys population resides in the rural communities.

This is an indication that the nation remains largely rural; and as disheartening it may sound; the rural areas are characterized by pervasive and endemic poverty made manifest by widespread hunger and general lack of access to healthcare and educational institutions, economic and social infrastructure. It is these and other cogent realities that Government at various strata has come to terms with the fact that there is an inherent imperative to improve the general wellbeing of the rural populace.

One of the actions taken to bridge the yawning infrastructure gap is instituting the National Policy on Rural Travel and Transport in 2006 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which succinctly portrays the overall development of the rural areas of the country. It also portrays the lack of efficient and adequate rural transport as a major bottleneck affecting social and economic development thereby affirming that transport development is central to the growth of any society.

Suffice to state that the development objective of RAAMP is to improve rural transport conditions and bring sustained access to the rural population through sustainable manner in selected Nigerian states, Kogi State inclusive. This will in turn alleviate both rural and urban poverty.

The development principles of the Alhaji Yahaya Bello – led new direction administration in Kogi State is anchored on even spread of democracy dividends to all parts of the state, hence the participation of Kogi State in the World Bank funded project to address the rural roads deficit, having considered other enormous benefits the people would derive from it.

Kogi State RAAMP Project Coordinator, Engr Sheidu Obansa Adamu

Speaking with the press recently, the RAAMP project Coordinator in the state, Engineer Sheidu Obansa described Governor Yahaya Bello as a trail blazer in rural transformation in the state, noting that rural communities have never had it so good.

Engineer Obansa stated that Kogi state is richly blessed with arable land suitable for the cultivation of Cassava, Rice, Beniseed, Maize, yam, and other staple crops adding that with the advent of RAAMP which seeks to provide all-season roads, the state would not only be the food basket of the nation but also a major exporter of these farm produce at a time the Federal and State Governments are investing hugely in agricultural ventures in a bid to making it the nations major foreign earner.

The Project Coordinator emphatically hailed Governor Bello for his profound concern and genuineness to the effectiveness of the project since its administrative set up in 2016 and has progressed steadily to the admiration of the funding partners and the national coordinating office in Abuja who had at various occasion adjudged the state performance in her activities so far as excellent.

Engineer Obansa also commended other stakeholders of the Project including the State Accountant General, Commissioners of Finance, Rural development, Budget and Economic Planning and the Permanent secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development who doubles as the Chairman of the State Project Management Committee (SPMC) for their immense contribution to the successes attained.

The multifarious activities carried out so far in line with the World Bank guidelines and specifications which include prioritization study, agro-logistic study, and evaluation for various consultancy services would soon translate to the visibility of men and earth moving equipment in the various rural roads prioritized for intervention.

Records show that a total of 24 rural roads covering 156.05km will be attended to in the central senatorial district, 28 roads of over 169km in the Eastern part while 17 rural roads spanning 182km in Kogi West have been selected for the project intervention in order to enhance rural road connectivity in over 200 communities in the state.

Happily, with the robust engagements of the traditional rulers during advocacy visits to their palaces, where the State project Coordinator Engineer sheidu Obansa admonished that the people should take ownership of the project and the outpouring of encomium on the Governor for attracting the project to the state with the assurances of acceptability by the traditional rulers, the grand success of Kogi RAAMP is assured.

Mention must be made of the refined leadership style exhibited by the state project coordinator Engineer Sheidu Obansa who has demonstrated passion, zeal, resourcefulness, tact and sense of character in executing the mandate of RAAMP.

With the engagement of the contractor in the offing for the engineering designs of the Prioritized roads covering a distance of over 500km, spreading development tentacles is a done deal courtesy of kogi RAAMP.

Life, they say is better when you are happy but life is at its best when others are happy because of you.

Kogi State RAAMP team during one of its advocacy visits to rural areas of the state

Governor Yahaya Bello as the pathfinder of a modern kogi State will continue to make the people happy in his avowed commitment to re-write the history of our rural communities and all that is required is undiluted support and prayers for Gods guidance and wisdom for the Governor to take Kogi from the shackles of poverty to a state of affluence.

Ndamodu Ali is the Kogi State RAAMP Communications Officer and Writes from Lokoja