The Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has on Thursday, said that for Nigeria to overcome the challenges confronting it, poverty and unemployment must first be addressed.
He said Nigerians cry of bad governance because for the past years, government has failed to address the many issues they were voted to address which include poverty and youth unemployment. He added that unless the people begin to see government take their welfare seriously, the challenges facing the country would only get worse.
Tambuwal disclosed this in a statement through his Special Assistant on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Akibu Dalhatu, in Abuja at the national inauguration of a project tagged “Project 20 million.”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that “Project 20 million” is a platform toward raising 20 million Nigerians who desire good governance, accountable leadership and making Nigeria great.
The governor said that the government must also effectively engage the citizenry in the budget-making process, saying that the appropriation bill at the Federal Level must not remain an executive affair.
“We must adopt the participatory approach to budget-making; before the budget office of the presidency, the Ministry of Finance and Budget Planning finalise any budget, they must organise town hall meetings.
”This will gather the inputs of the people and determine priority areas.
“If the people participate in the budget-making process, they will also follow how the appropriated money is being spent, and by this they will demand transparency and accountability from government officials.
“The people’s engagement in these processes strengthens and deepens democracy, and this ensures that the process of the rule of law is followed,” he said.
Mr Tambuwal also called for strict adherence to the provision of the constitution, saying that the provision of the constitution characterised the quality of governance which most Nigerians are yearning for.