Road Tour on Kogi State Rural Access Development
Touring one of the roads that #GovYahayaBello built
This 54km of critical asphalt road connects several local government areas in the western axis of Kogi East Senatorial District.
Refurbished/Constructed Kogi State Government House
Below are images of the newly refurbished/constructed Kogi State Government House, Lokoja.
#GYB is DoingMore.
Come to #Kogi and see for yourself.
THE WELCOME ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR YAHAYA BELLO…
WELCOME ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR YAHAYA BELLO OF KOGI STATE ON THE OCCASION OF THE MAIDEN KOGI STATE MSME DAY HELD IN COMMEMORATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL MSME DAY 2022 AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, LOKOJA ON WEDNESDAY 29TH JUNE, 2022
Protocols.
I am pleased to attend this event and I heartily welcome all participants. It is particularly gratifying to see us participate for the first time as a State in this annual International MSME showcase. According to the United Nations concept paper on the 2022 Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day, MSMEs account for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide’.
Thus, MSME GROWTH: A STRATEGIC TOOL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT’ as the theme of today’s event properly reflects the true importance of this sector. MSMEs are the backbone of societies everywhere. They contribute to local and national economies and help to sustain livelihoods, especially for the poor, women, youth, and other vulnerable groups.
When I took Office as the 4th Executive Governor of Kogi State in January 2016, Kogi State did not have much of an MSME ecosystem or hub to speak of, much less a dedicated agency like KEDA to coordinate and cater for their immediate and long-term needs.
Moreover, Kogi State needed to find an outlet through which we can gainfully engage and empower our teeming youthful population. Given that MSMEs are the major drivers of economic growth, especially in non-industrialised and developing societies, I made it one of my preoccupations to create an agency through which we could encourage entrepreneurship and ultimately build a thriving MSME hub in our State.
This is why the fourth, out of the five, key thematic areas of our New Direction Blueprint is Youth Engagement and New Venture Creation. We worked tirelessly with the legislative arm of our Government to create for KEDA what I consider one of the most forward-looking and adaptable laws in the MSME sector within the country.
For far too long, our people have depended on Government as the main driver of the economy. This is why our workforce is over-bloated and Government is overloaded with catering for the salaries, pensions, gratuities and other entitlements of over 80,000 workers in the Civil Service, both State and Local Governments. The sad thing is that we would need to deploy over 80% of gross Government income each month to pay this number of persons, yet they constitute less that 1.8% of our population of 4.5m people. This is both unsustainable and unwise.
In order to lessen the burden of reliance on Government to provide livelihoods and wages for the people, we must quickly dissipate the mist of ‘civil service state’ draped over the hopes and aspirations of our people. Of course, the quickest way, and frankly the only feasible way, to go in achieving this is through Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation, primarily MSMEs.
We pursued this course because we recognized that the growth of Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation will broaden the spectrum of opportunities available to every Kogite who is willing to work hard to become financially independent. Today, we are here to collectively bear witness to how far we have come in growing entrepreneurial interest in our people.
No matter how willing we are and how hard we work, we cannot absorb more than 10,000 new workers into Government service in any two terms, irrespective of how many retire from service. However, with a bit of innovativeness and lots of hard work, we can create 500,000 new MSME businesses in the same timeframe.
I intend to substantially achieve this before I exit the stage as Governor of Kogi State – primarily through the work of KEDA but also through the activities of our other Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
It is still early days yet, but I am really proud of Hajiya Rakiya Onaivo Sanni and her team at the Kogi Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA). They have done so much with so little. Still, I have highlighted the above because I need them to understand that KEDA’s core mandate is crucial to the next generation of wealth creation and economic growth we want to see in our state.
Entrepreneurship and enterprise development can be taught and learned, and not always in a formal school setting. Our Igbo brothers have amply demonstrated this with their various apprenticeship schemes. KEDA is charged with designing innovative ways of getting interested Kogites into MSMEs in a profitable manner and I expect it to put more effort into this.
Training and equipping business-oriented Kogites to engage successfully in the start up and growth of their own businesses will require us to enhance their knowledge base. It will require us to make capital available, improve overall ease of doing business in Kogi State and make sure the operating environment within the State is free of disincentives such as insecurity.
I am glad to note that we have been able to do all of this to appreciable extents, but from now, we will take things to the next level. KEDA must also improve the pace of her activities and ensure a huge leap in MSME penetration in Kogi State. You are to bring existing businesses and Government to a collaboration in training and equipping new entrepreneurs and facilitating new enterprise.
We are to strengthen the capacities of our people, especially our Youth and Women to build viable businesses spread across every sector possible. Let us develop businesses in emerging technologies, in the Information and Communications Technology industry, in specialized small scale consultancies as well as the traditional market areas and business interests.
I thank all our partners, the Trade unions, Financial Institutions, Corporate bodies, development partners, mentor and donor agencies, Embassies, the Federal Government and her MDAs, Non Governmental Organisations, among others. We will need your ongoing cooperation to keep growing our MSME sector till it becomes the self-sustaining live wire of our economy.
I salute our MSMEs and the remarkable men and women who own and run them. You are already champions for taking the leap of faith into entrepreneurship. You are vital to our economic wellbeing and we shall continue to work to improve your chances of success and wealth-making from your legitimate business engagements.
Once again, I welcome you all to this event. Be sure to participate fully in all the sessions as there will be plenty to learn and lots of vital takeaways for your journey as a business owner.
Thank you for listening.
YAHAYA BELLO
Governor of Kogi State
Governor Yahaya Bello Signs VAPP Bill into Law
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has signed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill into law.
The Secretary to Kogi State Government, Dr. Folashade Arike Ayoade disclosed this to journalists on Monday.
DAILY UPDATES gathered that VAPP bill has already been signed into law by 32 States of the federation. With the signing of the bill by the Kogi State Governor, only three states are left with the signing of the bill.
Speaking on the signing of the VAPP bill on Monday, the Chairman of the VAPP bill Steering Committee Mike Abu maintained that the bill has all it takes to protect citizens against violence of any kind.
Abu commended Eunice Abimbola Agbogun, Executive Director, Challenged Parenthood Initiatives, (CPI) for sponsoring the bill, adding that, through her painstaking efforts the bill was signed by the State Assembly.
He further thanked members of the State Steering Committee for their efforts in advocating for the signing into law the VAPP bill.
“The law in summary seeks to protect Women and Children and other person’s under the perpetrators care, destitute and without any means of subsistence.
“The law looks at the circumcision of the girl child or women, civil proceedings, damage to properly, use of dangerous weapons, domestic relationship and economic abuse.
” The law looks at emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, forced isolation from family and friends.
The law equally looks at sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual intimidation.
“The VAPP Bill also seeks to protect against violence in public sphere which includes wrongful arrest and detention, use of force without lawful authority, unlawful entry into premises or demolition of property without due processes.
“The law seeks to protect against rape and defines rape as intentional penetration, without consent and when consent is obtained by force”
Updates from Ultramodern General Hospital Gegu-Beki
The promises made by the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello has continued to deliver, especially in area of infrastructure development. Images below shows Updates from Ultramodern General Hospital Gegu-Beki.
Beauteous View of Specialist Hospital Lokoja
This is Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, not UK 🇬🇧 or US 🇺🇸. Yahaya Bello is clear on projects, and he has delivered on all fronts.
2022 KOGI STATE MSME WORKSHOP
2022 KOGI STATE MSME WORKSHOP
The Courageous Entrepreneurs,
Kogi State holds her Maiden edition of the MSMEs Workshop on Wednesday, June 29th, 2022 to commemorate the Annual International World MSME Day.
Carefully packaged with speakers to present papers on thematic areas that sets the pace to discuss ‘cross cutting’ issues and opportunities in the MSME communities.
Chief Host: His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Executive Governor of Kogi State.
Speakers:
Mrs Folashade Arike Ayoade, Kogi State, SSG
Alhaji Alwan Ali Hassan, Acting Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture
Mrs Ogo Ifeoma Akabogu, Manager, Abuja Region, Bank of Industry
Mrs Kuriyetu Ogirima, Regulatory Officer, NAFDAC, Kogi State
Prof John Olatunji Alabi, Facukty of Management Sciences, Kogi State University.
We look forward to meeting you all.
ROS.
MD/CEO
KEDA
Implementation of New Retirement Age
Governor Yahaya Bello demonstrated his visionary prowess proactively by being emphatic on the subject and directed at the last Exco the immediate recruitment of qualified teachers and the recall of retired but agile, competent and willing teachers to boost and Improve the quality of education at the foundation level in Kogi State.
Automobile Hospitals in Kogi State
Hospital is not just where Doctors and Nurses work to earn a living but an institution of learning for the practitioners.
The unending brain drain of medical practitioners today is not because of the poor welfare as many think but lack of basic working tools/equipment in our hospitals is one of the critical factors. We’ve seen images of medical doctor in the theatre with candlelight while carrying out surgery on human being. This and many more unfavorable working environment are a red flag for medical practitioners.
In medical sector, we’ve lost millions of patients due to referral logistic problems. Countless number of accident victims, cardiac arrest victims, women in labour died on their way to nearby hospitals. This happens as a result of poor referral logistic system. Most of the ambulances in various hospital are mere empty ordinary lorries/buses with a single hospital bed in it.
Today in Kogi State, instead of procuring the usual ambulances we know, His Excellency Yahaya Bello as part of his health sector revolution has adopted Automobile Hospital System where victims in critical medical needs are attended to from their points of need to the nearest hospital.
Kogi state government is taking the delivery of Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances which will be distributed across the state’s major health centers. These Advanced Life Support Vehicles are designed to transport patients in critical conditions to the hospital.
They are equipped with sophisticated features such as:
A recent quad view CCTV cameras with remote view which will help to provide evidence of safe driving on emergency runs and protecting the interest of both paramedics and patients.
Installed telephone system to ensure proper communication between paramedics and standby medical officers at the hospital.
Installed tracking system. The GPS tracking system in the ambulance helps increase response time, works with other features to save more lives during emergency transportation of victims.
Multi-channel patient monitor – In a life-threatening situations, the health condition of on-board patient can become very critical if they are not evaluated and treated in time. Chances of saving lives can increase significantly if patients’ vital signs inside an ambulance are transferred to a hospital in real time. The multi-channel patients’ monitor linked the ambulance to target hospital, the physicians in the emergency room at the hospital can monitor on-board patients’ vital signs and issue instructions to paramedics to stabilize the patients’ medical conditions before they reach the assigned hospital.
This system will open a lot of possibilities in telemedicine and disaster management in Kogi State Healthcare Sector which will be an example for others to follow.
In addition to the Basic Life Support equipments in an ambulance, there are further equipped with; AED, wireless intercom, Refrigerator , suction machine, wash hand basin, portable water storage system, among other ancillary medical equipments. They are well lighted with standard non-shadow casting LED lights. The ambulance is designed to allow for some procedures to be performed when stationed or on transit.
Three of these automobile hospitals are attached to the Kogi State Reference Hospital, Okene and others to be distributed across our major healthcare centres in the state.
This is the GYBSTANDARD
Kogi State hospital has high-tech, State of the Art medical equipment
When you see any Nigerian leader going abroad for medical treatment in 2023, stop them at the airport and ask them to go to Kogi State Referece Hospital, Okene. If they can’t be saved there they can’t be saved anywhere else in the world. Governor Yahaya Bello said he will put an end to medical tourism and he has done it.
This hospital has high-tech, State of the Art medical equipment which includes Mammographic Machines, CT Scan Machines, Magnetic Resonance Images, (MRI machines), a Hyperbaric chamber. Just google Hyperbaric Machine and you will be referred to Kogi State. The only state that has it in Nigeria.
This will be done across the country. It’s a matter of time.
God Bless Governor Yahaya Bello
God bless Kogi State
God bless Nigeria.
Below are few images for your viewing pleasure.
