ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, GOV. RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO FNSE OF KANO STATE ON THE OCCASION OF PRESENTATION OF THE YEAR 2014 BUDGET PROPOSAL TO KANO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON TUESDAY 24th DECEMBER 2013 COURTESIES: ASSALAMU ALAIKUM. All praises are due to Allah, The most Beneficent, and the most Merciful. May the peace and blessings of Allah (SWT) be upon our Noble Prophet Muhammad (SAW), His Noble family and righteous companions. 2. Mr. Speaker let me begin by once again registering my condolences to this Honourable House over the unfortunate death of Hon. Ibrahim Abba Garko and Hon. Danladi Isa Kademi who lost their lives while serving the good people of Kano state. Equally, let me also convey on behalf of the Government our deep heartfelt condolences to the families and people of Kano State over the death of some prominent citizens of the state like Shiekh Ali Harazumi, Alhaji Ali Talle Kachako, Shiekh Isa Waziri, Sarkin Sharifai, Sheik Abubakar Dangoggo, Shiek Mudi Salga, Justice Halliru Abdullahi, Justice Sadi Mato Umar Abdul-Azeez Fadar Bege, as well as other sons and daughters of the state who lost their lives during the outgoing year. May Allah SWT reward them with Jannatul-firdaus. 3. May I also use this opportunity to congratulate our son and brother Kabiru Abubakar Musa and other winners for doing the state and the country at large proud by emerging the overall winner of the International Quranic Recitation Competition in Saudi Arabia, we pray that Almighty Allah bless them abundantly. 4. It gives me great pleasure and honour to be amongst this august gathering for the purpose of accounting for our stewardship and once again presenting the 2014 Proposed Appropriation bill before this Honourable House. This Proposal is borne out of the experience we have gathered, and extensive consultations with stakeholders that would Insha Allah translate our development plans into concrete actions. 5. Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members would recall, while presenting the 2013 Budget of Economic Consolidation and Fiscal Discipline; that, we promised to curtail extra-budgetary spending and to effectively monitor income and expenditure of governsment in order to ensure budgetary discipline and transparency at all levels. I am glad to report that we have made tremendous progress in this regard. We are all living witnesses that a remarkable feat has been achieved in the area of revenue generation, infrastructure development, Education, Healthcare delivery, agricultural development, economic empowerment and institutionalization of community participation in Governance. 6. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, before I present details of the year 2014 budget proposal, permit me to use this opportunity to on behalf of the good people of Kano state congratulate the House for successfully passing 37 Bills in the last two and a half years. And also express our sincere appreciation to you for the harmony, which has continued to exist between the State Legislature and other arms of government. This stability has made it possible for us to deliver on the promises we made to our people. 7. Mr. Speaker, let me quickly review the modest performance of the 2013 Budget before presenting the policies and programmes of the year 2014 for the consideration of this Honourable House. Year 2013 Approved Budget Performance (January – October) 8. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, the 2013 Approved Budget of Economic Consolidation and Fiscal Discipline with focus on consolidating the gains of 2012 Budget for Economic Restoration and Development has a total size of N238, 504,929,019 with revenue of same size. The 2013 budget dedicated 25% for the recurrent expenditure and 75% for capital development with a total of 888 projects across all the sectors. 9. The budget has a total Recurrent Expenditure of Fifty nine billion, seven hundred and ninety four million eight hundred and twenty seven thousand Naira (N59, 794, 827, 000); while capital expenditure had N178, 830,102,019 allocations. It was a balanced budget in terms of revenue and expenditure estimates. The spirit behind our disposition in this regard was to show our commitment to fiscal discipline. The Year 2013 Budget no doubt focused on achieving Fiscal Consolidation and discipline through aggressive revenue collection, prudent management of resources and investment in key priority sectors. 10. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform this House that we remain steadfast in keeping with the pledge to commit ourselves to the pursuit of prudent and accountable leadership. We have concluded the plan to rebase the State’s economy that would facilitate better-informed economic policy and decision-making. 11. Mr. Speaker, in summary the general performance of the 2013 Approved Budget stood at 62% from January to October 2013 with a total revenue performance of 67% within the period under review. It is expected to increase sharply to the range of 85 to 95 percent between November to December 2013 respectively. 12. At this point, I find it pertinent to highlight some sectoral accomplishments recorded in the outgoing year. Education 13. Mr. Speaker, with all sense of modesty, our administration has made considerable progress in this sector, particularly in the areas of provision of additional classroom blocks, 400 staff houses across the State, provision of 188,933 furniture to 656 schools as well as to 11,020 teachers, wall-fenced 150 primary schools. All these are in an effort to address the problem of transition from Primary to Junior Secondary Schools, and from Junior to Senior Secondary Schools in addition to provision of instructional materials, sporting facilities and many more. 14. In a bid to address manpower challenges, our administration has continued with the sponsorship of indigenous students to pursue various undergraduate and post graduate programmes at home and abroad. A more elaborate government commitment in this regard includes: • Sponsored 1,664 students for their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees abroad and in private universities in Nigeria expending well over N4.5 Billion. It is pertinent at this point to inform you that some of our postgraduate students have already secured employment with reputable organizations abroad and a batch of 502 students will also be leaving for studies abroad very soon. • Our free school pupil feeding and provision of two free sets of uniform have engendered the tripling of our school enrolment figures. To this end, now total enrolment in Kano according to the recent school census stood at 2,497,608 pupils. • We established the first model Bi – lingual college at Republic of Niger with 201 students at inception. • We have established an E-Learning centre at the Governor’s College and are in the process of setting up more e-centres at least one in each Local Government Area in partnership with a Canadian NGO. • Re-introduction and construction of Shehu Minjibir Boarding Primary School in Minjibir Local Government. • Constructed about 2,000 classrooms and 1000 offices at the cost of over N7 Billion. • Fenced over 150 schools and 400 Kwankwasiyya houses at the cost of about N2 Billion. • Constructed 5 new mega Secondary Schools that include Governor’s College, Dan’gwani, Dan Hajja, Jambaki and First Lady College at the cost of about N3.5 Billion. • Converting the Cotton Ginnery at Chalawa into the Kano Chinese College. • We are also converting the Mariri Rehabilitation Centre into a Girls Boarding Secondary School. • Likewise, we are converting the Psychiatric hospital Aisami into a Secondary School. • The State’s College of Education Technical Minijibir, which will feed our 44 Technical Colleges with the needed manpower, is under construction. • We are in the process of constructing and equipping 300 computer rooms in 300 schools, 300 modern Libraries and 300 state-of-the-art laboratories of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in 100 schools at the cost of over N3 Billion • Established 23 skills acquisition and training institutes and alongside the North West University. Healthcare Delivery 15. The State Government is making steady progress to ensure improved healthcare delivery in spite of challenges facing the sector largely due to our population size and continuous influx of people into the State from neighboring States and beyond; but Alhamdulillah: • One important landmark here is the introduction of Kwankwasiyya Medical Outreach Services using our newly acquired fully equipped ambulances aimed at conveying medical services to communities living in remote areas of the State as well as mobile antenatal services to women. This programme has impacted positively on our people. • Our routine immunization and eradication of various communicable diseases, by our administration has entered into agreement with Dangote and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations on strengthening routine immunization for polio and other deadly diseases. At this point, I wish to call for the support of the general public towards kicking polio out of Kano. • N500 million was used to procure specialized medical equipment and other consumables. • N 1.2 billion was spent to procure Anesthetic machines and other sophisticated medical equipment. • Our partnership with MDG has yielded results in terms of rehabilitation of 5-General Hospitals at Gwarzo, Dambatta, Bichi, Gaya and Rano to referral services for their immediate communities. While Wudil, Kura and T/Wada are under way. • In a related development quite a number of primary health care centres are being renovated in 9 LGAs under our partnership with MDGs. • After opting out from the loan agreement with the World Bank on the malaria control programme; our government subsequently offered to fund the programme by providing a budget line of N200 million towards the control and prevention of malaria. It is also gratifying to note that the state Ministry of Health in collaboration with relevant stakeholders has developed a comprehensive 2013 Malaria Annual Operational Plan which clearly outlined all the necessary inputs to fight the scourge of malaria in Kano State including support from the development partners.