Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Umar Sanda, on Thursday said that the government would buy 50 operational vehicles, worth N759.5 million, for all the security agencies in the state.
Sanda, who made this known in Bauchi at a news conference, said that achieving effective security was one of the cardinal campaign promises of the state governor.
The commissioner explained that each of the pickups would be purchased for N15 million, adding that the governor decided to buy the vehicles so that residents could “sleep with their two eyes closed’’.
“The North East Development Commission (NEDC) had previously provided security vehicles to some Northeastern states such as Yobe, Borno and Adamawa but unfortunately, Bauchi State was not included.
“It was on the basis of this that the security agencies in the state made a presentation to the governor on the need to provide them with pick-up vehicles with a view to securing the state,’’ Sanda said.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Samaila Burga, said that the state government had approved the training of 1,000 youths on integrated agriculture at the International Skills Acquisition Centre, Keffi, Nasarawa.
He explained that the governor, who was not happy with the way youths were roaming the streets, approved N318 million for the training programme.
He said the government would train “reliable individuals’’ whom it could stand as a guarantor for while accessing funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other commercial banks.
“There is a lot of money available for agriculture at the Central Bank and many commercial banks; however, they always look for guarantees from the government, Burga said.
The agriculture commissioner disclosed that 50 people were selected for the training from each of the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and were expected to return to their LGAs to train others.
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