Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has said the state he inherited was bankrupt when he took over power.
Lawal, who stated this on Wednesday evening at an interactive session with Zamfara professionals in Abuja, said that Zamfara was in a bad state when he assumed office.
“I believe in the history of our state, this is the first time where professionals and people of Zamfara State are here to interact.
“I am delighted to hear some of the comments made. It is indeed incredible.
“The Zamfara State we inherited is in a bad state. At the time we took over, Zamfara was bankrupt with nothing left.
“It is a state where we inherited so many bad things,” he said while responding to questions and comments from professionals from the state.
The governor, however, gave assurance that things were going to change for the better.
Lawal, who said that he inherited a three-month salary backlog with no single money to take care of the civil servants, said as at the time he took over, the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) exam was already over and the children were unable to sit for it.
“Fortunately for us, NECO (National Examinations Council) is about to start and if we did not do anything, the children may not write the exam,” he said.
He said that though the state was owing WAEC about N1.6 billion and NECO about N1.4 billion which had made the students to be unable to sit for the exams in the past, his government had recently paid off NECO’s debt.
“This is something that is verifiable. Outside security, education is key because, without education, we are going nowhere,” he said.
He said his government had commenced reconstruction of primary schools and building the capacity of the teachers to boost their productivity.
He said when he came in, Zamfara had 28 ministries which had now been reduced to 16.
The governor, who lamented over the condition of the hospitals in the state, said he was committed to changing all the narratives.
He, therefore, solicited the professionals’ support in order to build the state in the interest of the people.
Lawal said as part of the efforts to tackle the security challenge in the state, he met with the chief of defence staff, the chief of army staff and the national security adviser on different occasions.
He said he also met with officials of the European Union and the World Bank on issues of insecurity, education, health and infrastructural development, and that they were ever ready to provide support.
