The elected Council Chairmen in Plateau State are marking their one year in office today the 11 of October, 2022.
To this end, the executive Chairman of Kanke Local Government Council, Henry Gotip has listed some of his achievements since he took over the council affairs in 2021.
Below is his full address
My dear Citizens of Kanke LGA, I am delighted to address you today.
Today October 11, 2022, marks our one year in office. I am celebrating and commemorating my one year in office as your humble servant and leader of our cherished Local Government Council.
While thanking God for what he has helped us achieve, I would also like to express my immense gratitude and happiness with my team with whom I have been able to make modest accomplishments with the limited resources available to us in the Local Government.
I am also grateful to all of you, the good people of Kanke LGA, as well as other stakeholders for your kind help in making this one-year journey a success. We were able to overcome many challenges, but this would not have been possible without your help and understanding.
During the preceding year, the following areas have been given attention:
๐ญ. ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก.
If Kanke Local Government Area is to stand tall in the community of Plateau State Local Government Areas and compete favorably in bringing development to the people, our revenue generation needs a significant boost and push. To improve revenue generation in the Local Government, we outlined and implemented policies that would help the Local Government generate more revenue.
In the second quarter of our first year in office, we purchased a ten-wheel tipper truck to increase Government revenue generation while also assisting the Local Government Council in lowering the cost of projects undertaken.
We have also held engagement sessions with various market Heads and leaders of various Market Associations in Amper and Dawaki markets to look at ways of improving revenue generation and also to block leakages.
We have begun an inspection of the market facilities and plans are being made to repair the dilapidated structures as well as fence the markets to make them more secure and conducive for use by the marketers.
We are constructing a new markets and work has begun at the Sabon-Hanya Ampang farmers’ market, this if completed would also help to boost economic activity in the Local Government Area while generating revenue for social and infrastructure development of the Local Government Area.
The collaboration with market leaders and stakeholders on revenue-boosting measures for the Amper and Dawaki markets has yielded positive results, as we have increased our internally generated revenue significantly which we intend to invest in the development of the markets.
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ.
Government business is a team effort. During the year under review we collaborated and synergized with various Government Agencies, parastatals and Development Partners in order to bring the benefits of government to our people.
We worked with organizations and parastatals such as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Primary Health Care Board, the National Population Commission (NPC), the Primary Education Board, the Plateau Information and Communication Technology Agency (PICTA), CSDP, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Operation Safe Heaven, STF, PLASMEDA, JDPC, NSCDC, Community Development Associations and Boys Brigade Nigeria, among others. We would continue to work and partner with more organizations to see how we can better serve our people.
๐ฏ. ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐.
Over the last one year, we have worked tirelessly to improve healthcare services to our communities in the Local Government Area. We have conducted Free Medical Outreaches as part of our effort to meet our people’s healthcare needs. We organized and have reached over 3,000 people in the form of eye treatment and surgeries and many illnesses were diagnosed. We also gave out free medicated glasses to over 600 beneficiaries.
We have worked closely with the Primary Health Care Department to ensure that immunization, drugs administration and vaccines provided and administered on time to ensure that our women and children do not become victims of disease outbreaks.
In the area of physical infrastructure, work has reached 80% completion at the Tuwan PHC clinic, which is being upgraded and remodeled into a referral center for other smaller Primary Health Care clinics in the Local Government Area. Similarly, reconstruction work on the Tom-Tom Dangkem in Garram Comprehensive Primary Health Centre has reached 90% completion. We hope to equip both hospitals to serve the local population and to improve our people’s healthcare needs.
We have received equipment for the Kwall cottage hospital. We appreciate the listening Executive Governor of Plateau State, Right Hon Dr. Simon Bako Lalong, for his unwavering commitment for coming to our aid in this regard. Hopefully, the hospital’s operations will soon begin.
We also worked with the Beautiful Gate Foundation to provide 100 wheelchairs to our physically challenged citizens. This is to ensure that the physically challenged members of our Local Government Area have much easier mobility.
Furthermore, we are currently providing another round of free eye care and surgeries to our people in collaboration with Vision Support Initiative and TY Danjuma Foundation.
๐ฐ. ๐ฆ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐.
The first and most important duty of any government is to provide welfare and security for its people to go about their lawful economic, social, and religious activities without fear of harassment or intimidation. The good people of Kanke Local Government Area are known for peaceful coexistence, but in order to maintain this peace, we have further put measures in place to help security agencies do their jobs better.
We adopted the Community security model to improve security in the Local Government Area. We have engaged the traditional institutions, Hunters’ Groups, and Vigilante Groups to compliment the efforts of the Nigeria Police, STF,DSS, and other security outfits in the Local Government to improve security, surveillance, information gathering, and early warning signals within the Local Government.
In addition, we have worked closely with our neighboring LGAs of Pankshin and Kanam Local Government Councils to better secure the Pankshin-Kanke to Kanam Road and other border areas. We’ve also positively had successful engagements with traditional rulers and Village Heads in communities presumed to be security black spots, and a joint patrol team has reduced the number of attacks and insecurity on that road and along its borders.
In order to boost the morale of the security personnel we have also made time to visit them at the checkpoints throughout the Local Government to encourage security personnel.
Our Government has also provided hunters and the vigilante association of Nigeria with torch lights, boots, and other security gadgets and equipment to assist them on patrol.
We have also provided ten motorcycles to the military, police, Civil Defense, vigilantes, and Hunters’ Association to aid in security surveillance and patrol at the Local Government Area.
We are continuing work on the remodeling and upgrading the Divisional Police headquarter and Outpost in Kwal, Kanke LGC in order to motivate and strengthen police activities in the area.
๐ฑ. ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง.
Our emphasis on youth as the hope of tomorrow cannot be overstated. Our government has made it abundantly clear that empowering youth to participate in the economy is one of our primary goals. As a result, We have trained some youths in the LGA in the production of hydro-foam blocks. We have also trained them in the production of sancrete blocks and interlocking blocks, as well as other construction skills that will enable them to be self-sufficient.
In terms of sports, we sponsored the Kanke under thirteen football team to compete in the Plateau Radio and Television Cooperation( PRTVC) cup competition, and we donated jerseys, training balls, and boots to the team to ensure optimal performance in the games.
We also sponsored the Kanke Lion Warriors Football team in the ECOWAS Cup competition and provided assistance where needed for all of their trainings and matches in which they won the trophy.
In addition, we sponsored the Kanke Operation Safe Haven youth peace tournament team. We also provided soccer boots, socks, and footballs to various community football teams within the Local Government.
For the second time, we have sponsored the kanke Operation Safe Haven youth peace tournament, which is currently taking place.
๐ฒ. ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง.
My team and I are very keen on Education because Education is the hallmark for sustainable development and the only hope in developing our people to be able to compete favourably with every other people across the length and breadth of our nation Nigeria.
In the last one year, we have seen an increase in the educational performance and overall outcome of school students in the locality. We strongly believe in the potentials of our children as the next generation of leaders and we have been working tirelessly to ensure that they have better and safe school learning conditions and have had significant increase in school children enrollment and reduced out of school issues.
We have embarked on assessment tour of Kanke schools to ensure proper use of school curriculum and syllabus, as well as to ensure that teachers report to work on time.
We have also purchased 200 laptop computers for the Kwal ICT Training Center, where our youths in the transition stage between senior secondary school and higher education can receive free ICT training.
We have contacted the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to see if we could establish a study center in Kanke. The Director of the Open University of Nigeria has since visited Government Secondary School Amper and inspected the proposed location for the Study Center. We have also moved forward in drawing a committee to facilitate same.
๐ณ. ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก.
In order to improve efficiency and motivate our civil servants in the Local Government Area, we began paying outstanding allowances, particularly disturbance and repatriation allowances, and very significant progress is made to clear such. We have also demonstrated that we will continue to improve worker welfare as we continue paying their outstanding allowances because workers are the heart of our government. Similarly, our pensioners are also considered in the payment of their stipends.
๐ด. ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง.
As the government closest to the people. We have spent the last year researching and conducting a need assessment of the needs of our people, particularly those living in rural areas. This is to make those in our Local Government’s most rural areas feel the impact of government and enjoy the dividends of democracy.
On the Rural electrification, we completed and commissioned the Myet rural electrification project, which we inherited from our predecessors.
We have also purchased four toolboxes that will be used to repair boreholes that have failed throughout the Local Government Area over the years. We intend to train Kanke Youths on how to use these tool boxes and to employ the trained youths to fix the boreholes.
We have also provided some toilet facilities in strategic areas for our people to use as part of our water sanitation and hygiene intervention.
We are currently furnishing and equipping the Kanke Local Government guest house to accommodate visitors on official assignments to the Local Government Area.
I will like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me and my team along the way. First and foremost,I appreciate His Excellency Rt.Hon Simon Bako Lalong, the Executive Governor of Plateau State, big thanks the leaders of my party, APC, the Legislative Arm, Supervisory Councillors, Advisers, aides, our elders, stakeholders, traditional leaders, Women, Youths of our community and technocrats who continue to share their wisdom with us and provide the necessary support and counsel.
I am also grateful to our private sector partners, who continue to help me deliver on our community’s vision and promises. We are not finished yet, but this report is our attempt to highlight our key achievements over the past 365 days to demonstrate our accountability and commitment to the people’s mandate, and I am confident that we are on the right track to creating a future that the people want. We remain committed to serving, and we intend to leave no one behind. We must work together to achieve the best results for our local Government and future generations.
Mu’kangke (Vision for a United Nation and Good Governance) was able to accomplish all of this in our one-year tenure with your help and the tenacity of my hardworking team. We’ll be doing a lot more soon! Without a doubt, the Local Government is confronted with numerous issues that require immediate attention, but we are confident in our ability as a Local Government Council to achieve our goals. We are ready to move Kanke LGA forward with God’s help and your continued support… MUKANGKE!
Long live Kanke Local Government
Long live Plateau State
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Signed: Hon. Henry Jan Gotip
Executive Chairman Kanke Local Government Council
11th October, 2022