Ebonyi 2024 Budget Presentation
I will give you this fact for free. No Ministry in Ebonyi State is moribund under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. Everyone is busy, keying along the mandate of the Peoples Charter of Needs and adding value to the lives of Ebonyi people and the economy of the State. Anything short of this is not welcomed by the Governor.
Besides being responsible and giving good attention to every sector, it helps tick off the indices that push up economic growth and development. Notwithstanding this rare spread, there are points of note, areas of priority for the State, especially as we approach the 2024 fiscal year. Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has spelled them out as Education, Health, Human Capital Development, and Rural Infrastructure. These sectors do not cast shadows on the others but are high points of concentration according to the NEEDS of Ebonyi people.
As such, yesterday, the Governor presented a budget of Innovation and Progress, totaling the sum of Two Hundred and Two Billion, One Hundred and Twenty-Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Eighteen Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seven Naira (N202,127,918,907.00), to Ebonyi State House of Assembly, being the Budget Estimate of the State for the year ending December 31, 2024.
In his address at the House of Assembly, the Chief Servant of the State noted that the Budget Estimate is a compass guiding the State towards a future where every sector flourishes, and every citizen thrives. This evenness of priorities geared towards a balanced development of the State is a projection of a controlled and deliberate system. Not a fluke.
In Education, he spoke about scholarships for Ebonyi people who will go on to oversee the 39 special model schools to be built by the State Government, 3 in each of the 13 Local Government Areas of the State. This is one of the routes through which the revamping of our education system will start. Do not forget that Ebonyi State Government is finalizing proposals to hand over all previously owned Mission schools back to them. In specialized areas as well, scholarships are on course for Ebonyians to travel outside the country in that regard…and more.
Health for him, deserves an emergency. One of his points of call after his assumption of office was to employ 195 medical practitioners for all the general hospitals in the State. To forestall situations where Doctors complain of not having comfortable quarters within the hospitals, the 2024 Budget has a provision for the construction of modern houses (quarters) for all the medical doctors in all the general hospitals. In the words of the Governor, “we will make these houses a home for them, better than their own houses so that they will not want to go back home”.
As well, the Budget has a provision to procure brand new cars for all the medical doctors, to ensure ease of movement and to prevent the doctors from turning the hospital ambulances into their private cars. Additionally, brand new ambulances are to be purchased, while the old ones are currently being refurbished by Toyota Company. None will be left to ruins. N8.818bn first phase of the contract has been awarded for the procurement of high-class medical equipment for these general hospitals from Germany. All of these are to ensure that when sickness strikes, one doesn’t need to rush from the rural areas to the State for medical attention. Our general hospitals will be ready to address their concerns. This will in no small measure decrease the stress and pressure on the hospitals within the Abakaliki metropolis.
Talking of that, the Governor has received the gracious approval of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the demerging of Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital (AE-FETHA), for the State to now own and run Her own State Specialist Hospital. Interestingly, the President has noted that all Staff of AE-FETHA will keep their jobs, as Federal Staff. This was a fear generated by those who were working under the State hospital before it was merged during the Jonathan administration.
For some of these reasons, which include health emergencies, ease of transport of agricultural products and overall development of the rural areas, the 2024 Budget Estimate of Ebonyi State, equally highlights the development of rural infrastructure. The Governor reeled out even distribution of rural roads captured in the 2024 budget according to the 3 senatorial zones of the State. Some are ongoing at the moment.
Human Capital Development crowns them all. The Government of Ebonyi State had already doled out the sum of N2m each to 500 Ebonyians to start-up businesses. Regardless of the recent backlash where some organizations and stakeholders attempted a sabotage of the process, by asking the beneficiaries for cuts in the money, the Governor is set to embark on the remaining 2 phases in a different way, to ensure the funds reach the desired persons. There are other programs under this sector meant to step up the game in the Development of Human Resources in the State, as captured by the 2024 Budget Estimate.
Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is faced with daring times, seeking all-round development of the State. But suffice to say, that he has a well prepped steps to meet the needs of Ebonyi people. Yesterday’s activation of Section 121 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, was a worthwhile event. All there are to look out for now is implementation, in good confidence that the proposed sources of revenue live up to their billing.
We are positively upbeat that he will deliver, especially, as he has a sincere will and a recognition of the value in balancing up the sectoral growth of the Economy of Ebonyi State.
