A Niger Delta activist and coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, Mr Joseph<\/p>\n
Evah, has commended the Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, for
\nhis prudent management of state resources amidst financial crunch and debt
\nburden debates in the country.<\/p>\n
He therefore challenged other states to learn from Dickson effective and
\nprudent management of resources, while at the same time “endorsing his
\nre-election in 2016.”<\/p>\n
“Despite the various strides in infrastructure, education, health and
\neconomic development, Bayelsa State is not an indebted state as a borrower
\nin the capital market and it is also a reminder to the skeptics that the
\nstate was not one of several others listed either among the heavily
\nindebted states or the least indebted as current figures of the Debt
\nManagement Office (DMO) in the external debt categories indicated”, Evah
\nemphasized.<\/p>\n
The civil rights activist in a statement issued on Monday evening in
\nreaction to the current national economic situation said such leadership
\ntrait marked out the governor as a visionary and modern manager whose
\nunderstanding of public policy and public finance is making a difference.<\/p>\n
According to him, the financial crunch weighing down many states with the
\nbiggest problem being inability to pay salaries was attributed to
\nexcessive borrowing and the challenge of dwindling revenue from the
\nfederation account, adding that borrowing without a productive base was
\nnot a sustainable policy and as such should be discouraged forthwith.<\/p>\n
He however acknowledged that Bayelsa State despite going through the same
\nrevenue shortfall from the centre as other states, Bayelsa State is still
\nable to keep afloat because of careful planning, blocking of leakages in
\nthe system, prudent and purposeful use of public funds and zero tolerance
\nto corruption.<\/p>\n
Evah said diversification of the national economy was imperative, adding
\nthat he was pleased that the state government was already in the forefront
\nof exploiting alternative means of revenue other than oil and gas.<\/p>\n
He said, “At a time like this, I think we should take stock of the
\nchallenges of development in Bayelsa State and with particular reference
\nto the governor’s management style and results in economic development as
\na factor of public sector finance management. We have followed the
\nnational debates in the last few weeks on the tough situations in the
\neconomy which has a common concern in liquidity crisis where debt overhang
\nis a major issue across the states and the widespread concern about
\ninability to pay salaries.<\/p>\n
“Although borrowing is not a bad thing when tied to specific development
\nagenda, excessive borrowing to the extent of constituting liability to
\neffective running of governments and meeting statutory obligations is an
\nissue. While we are not in any position to condemn those caught in the web
\nof financial tightrope especially in view of the huge shortfall in revenue
\nfrom the federation account, we find it important to draw the attention of
\nour people back home to the shrewd management by Governor Seriake Dickson
\nwhich has helped to keep the state afloat till date. Indeed, we believe
\nthat the economic diversification agenda of the state government is the
\nfuture which can help to create jobs and rely less and less on oil and
\ngas. It is the solution to economic stability and sustenance.<\/p>\n
“The truth is that no one state in the nation today can claim to be
\nperforming at optimal capacity for obvious reasons but the fact that
\nBayelsa State has continued to pay salaries and running government to keep
\nup with other statutory obligations is a feat we should commend. It
\nclearly speaks to vision, capacity, prudence and good leadership.<\/p>\n
“We find it important to make this point to correct critics of the state
\ngovernment who are usually influenced by politics rather than the
\nremarkable achievements of the governor.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Niger Delta activist and coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, Mr Joseph Evah, has commended the Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, for his prudent management of state resources amidst…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n