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Niger State government says it has spent over N6 billion to rehabilitate and construct 235 kilometers in six rural roads.
The Permanent Secretary and Coordinator, Niger State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, Hassan Etsu disclosed this during a one-day stakeholders’ workshop on sector reform, held at Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna.
The workshop, with the theme, ‘Establishment of State Road Fund and Rural Access Road Agency in Niger State’, was organised by RAAMP, in collaboration with partners.
According to Etsu, the state government decided to key into the RAAMP, after investing in rehabilitation and construction of the 235km roads under the second phase of Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP-2).
He said: “Under the reform actions of RAAMP, the covenant signed requires each participating state to complete, not later than 18 months after date of subsidiary agreement, the finalisation of legislation establishing a state Rural Access Roads Agency (RARA) and State Road Fund (SRF).”
He added that establishment of the road fund is geared towards addressing issues of rural road financing, sustainably, with locally generated revenue or any other available source of funding.
Etsu urged all the stakeholders at the workshop to make meaningful contributions that would bring about road infrastructure development in a sustainable manner in the state.
He also appreciated Governor Sani Bello for foresight and support for rural development. Earlier in his remarks, the Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, hinted that bill for the establishment of RARA and SRF is before the 9th Assembly, promising that the legislation would be passed into law before expiration of the state Assembly in June 2023.
National Coordinator, RAAMP, Aminu Bodinga Mohammed, noted that the creation of RARA will provide the state with opportunity to access funds for rural development from development partners, while creation of the road fund will provide an independent source of additional funding for road maintenance in the state.
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