ADDRESS BY MR. AFOLABI JOSEPH-RAJI ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY AND MEETING OF MEMBERS OF KOGI STATE SELECTION COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA SPECIAL PUBLIC WORKS (FGN-SPW) PROGRAM ON AUGUST 6TH 2020.
Protocols.
The Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Members of Kogi State Selection Committee of the Federal Government of Nigeria Special Public Works (FGN-SPW) Program hereby express our profound gratitude to Your Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, The Executive Governor of Kogi State for nominating us for appointment by the Federal Government to serve on this noble Committee.
We are quite aware of the enormous and sensitive responsibilities assigned to the Committee to carefully and transparently select 1,000 citizens from each of the 21 Local Government Areas of the State to participate in the Special Public Works Program, as well as to identify and select various projects fairly distributed across all Wards and LGAs in the State to be executed under the Special Public Works Program between October to December 2020.
We hereby assure Your Excellency – The Executive Governor Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello; The Honorable Minister of State for Labour and Employment – Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, His Excellency, President Muhamadu Buhari, GCFR; and the Good People of Kogi State – whom we were appointed to serve, of our readiness and full commitment to diligently carry out this noble national assignment to the best of our abilities by the Grace of God.
As we may be aware, The Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, recently initiated the Special Public Works Program to create 774,000 Jobs across the Nation as one of the post COVID-19 palliatives to cushion the negative effects of the global pandemic at the grassroots.
The Special Public Works Program is aimed at creating 1,000 jobs in each of the 774 Local Government Areas of the country through labour intensive techniques which will focus on maintenance and light rehabilitation of public infrastructure across the Country over a period of three (3) months from October to December 2020.
The Special Public Works Program is a dry season/off-season transient job program and participants will be recruited majorly from the pool of unskilled persons from the grassroots which include itinerant workers or labourers with little or no educational qualifications, farmers, artisans, and the likes who currently hold no formal employment or earn very low income.
Each of the participant will be paid a Monthly stipend of Twenty Thousand Naira only (N20,000) over a period of three (3) months from October to December 2020 by the Federal Government.
At this juncture, it is pertinent to highlight the socio-economic impact of the FGN Special Public Works in the State. For instance, Kogi State with twenty one (21) Local Government Areas will present 21,000 participants who will each receive a monthly stipend of Twenty Thousand Naira (N20,000) over a period of three (3) months. This will translate to additional disposable wage income of N420million per month and a huge sum of N1.26billion over the three months period into the State’s economy particularly for low income earners.
Furthermore, the 21,000 participants from the State will be engaged in maintaining and improving public infrastructure and the physical environment across the State through the implementation of selected public works/projects in all the Wards and Local Government Areas in Kogi State.
In order to ensure transparency and fairness in the implementation of the Program, the Honorable Minister of State for Labour and Employment – Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN approved the constitution of a 20-member State Selection Committee in every State of the Federation to handle the process of selecting participants for the SPW Program.
The 20-member State Selection Committee which is being inaugurated today comprises of capable and responsible persons of integrity who represent diverse interest in the society as follows:
1. Chairman
2. Vice Chairman
3. Secretary (the State Coordinator of National Directorate of Employment)
4. Three Representatives of Traditional Rulers from the three Senatorial Districts of the State (members)
5. One representative of the State Governor (member)
6. Market Woman Leader (member)
7. Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in that State or his representative (member)
8. Chairman of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in that State or his Representative (member).
9. Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in that State or his Representative (member)
10. Six representatives from three recognized youth organisations in that State. Two each from each of the three Senatorial Districts (one male & one female)- members.
11. One Representative from a recognized Civil Society Organisation (CSO) in that State – (member)
12. Two representatives from Institutions / Stakeholders representing interests peculiar to that State (members)
The State Selection Committee is charged with the following responsibilities:
i. To ensure even representation of persons to be engaged in all the wards in the LGAs
ii. To identify, select and compile the details of special public work projects to be evenly spread across all Wards in every Local Government Area across the state.
iii. To develop and coordinate areas of collaborations with the State and Local Government.
iv. To ensure proper and successful implementation of the Special Public Works Program in their respective States.
v. Ensure strict compliance with the guidelines of the programme as communicated by the Honorable Minister.
To underscore the importance of the task ahead of this noble committee, the Honorable Minister of State for Labour and Employment – Mr. Festus Keyamo said, and I quote;
“You (the Committee members) must therefore see this task as a serious, patriotic national assignment. This programme can rightly be described as one of President Buhari’s many star programmes for the lowly, weak and vulnerable people in our society. Hence you must treat it as such.”
The Honorable Minister has equally emphasized and continue to reiterate the fact that “this program is for all Nigerians” and should not be seen as an “APC Program”. Hence the constitution of independent State Selection Committees devoid of political interference.
As I conclude, I wish to enjoin Your Excellency to support this National Program in your characteristic manner to record massive success in Kogi State through robust collaboration between the State Government, Local Governments and the State Selection Committee.
As the most-centrally located and most-connected state in Nigeria, and the major travel corridor from the South to Abuja and the North, and given our proximity to the Federal Capital Territory, the effective implementation of the Kogi State Special Public Works Program is poised to be a major inspirational example to the Nation.
Once again, on behalf of all Committee Members, I wish to assure Your Excellency of our full commitment to diligently carry out this noble national assignment to the best of our abilities as we further seek your kind support for the successful implementation of the FGN Special Public Works Program in Kogi State.
Thank you very much.
Afolabi Joseph-Raji
Chairman, Kogi State Selection Committee
Federal Government of Nigeria
Special Public Works (FGN SPW)
August 2020.