Following the Annual States Viability Index, ASVI, listing of Katsina State as the 7th lowest among insolvent states in the country, the state government in a swift action has inaugurated a 7-man board to man the state Exploration and Mining company Ltd, KEMCO.
The board, which is to work closely with other Federal Government agencies, according to Governor Aminu Masari, is saddled with the responsibility of harnessing the over 33 mineral deposits in the state with a view to improving the internally generated revenue of the state so as not to over depend on the Federal Allocation.
The Governor, while inaugurating the board at the Katsina State Government House Chamber, stressed that the move became necessary in view of changing the approach of using consultants to raise the IGR of the state which still over depend on the federal allocation thereby, making the government think outside the box.
“Katsina is ranked among 7th, in fact, the lowest among insolvent states simply because we have not put structures for a very long time that will generate revenue in the state. We have tried to use consultants to raise the revenue generation of the state yet, it is dependent upon Pay as you Earn, PAYE, especially the federation account, how much we paid our salaries and how much is paid to contractors. If the FAAC goes down so does the revenue”.
He also noted that other steps taken by the government to meet and scale up the revenue drive of the state are the development of a green zone whose growth has been affected by the Covid-19 disease hoping that, it would pick up as soon as possible.
“The purpose of the project is to create an economic zone, where the processing of medium and small scale industries will take place, especially for export due to the States border with the Niger Republic and other West African countries. So what we have done here today is to lay another foundation which will help in improving revenue generation “, Masari added.
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The Chairman of the board, Salisu Mamman, while responding on behalf of the members, assured the government of bringing their expertise to bear in not only increasing the IGR of the state but also, ensuring that all activities in the sector are carried out according to laid down rules as the board consists of seasoned technocrats in the mining and other sectors.
Some of the mineral deposits in the state include gold, manganese, kaolin, asbestos, copper, emerald, diamonds, granite, glass sand, uranium among others.
Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu
