KNSG Pays Over N500m Inherited Adverts Debts In 8 Years,Garba
Debt
By Ahmed Abdulkadir
Kano, The outgoing Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs,Malam Muhammad Garba, says he has paid over N500 million as debts incurred from advertisements placed in the media, which he inherited on assumption of office.
Garba disclosed this while handing over the affairs of his ministry to the Permanent Secretary, in his office on Friday, adding that he paid the inherited debts during the eight years of his tenure.
Other achievements recorded during the eight-year tenure he said,included the revival of the state Ministry of Information which resulted in the promotion of more than 35 officers to the position of directors,as well as the elevation of about 5 practicing Journalists from the ministry to the position of permanent secretaries in the state service.
Furthermore,the commissioner said,the state Government had during his tenure,revived the state-owned Triumph Publishing Company by acquiring new printing machines for the company and ensuring the publication of its own newspapers,among other things.
He also said that under his watch, the State Government had constructed 24 shops at the Secretariat of the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ) as well as the modernisation of the council’s Conference Hall to enable it to generate revenue to finance its services.
Garba said it was also to his credit that no journalist was arrested or harassed during his tenure, which he said contributed to the good working relationship between the outgoing government and journalists that flourished
during the period.
He said he had done his best in discharging his mandate and prayed that whoever would succeed him as commissioner for information and internal affairs “would do more than we did.”
He commended working journalists in the state for their cooperation and understanding which he said, contributed to his success in managing the information affairs of the state.
Receiving the handover notes, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Sani Yola,commended the outgoing commissioner for the competent manner in which he ran the affairs of the ministry,as well as the guidance the staff of the ministry received from him.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the State Council of the NUJ,Comrade Abbas Ibrahim,
thanked the commissioner for the provision of the 24 shops for the NUJ and the modernisation of the union’s conference Hall,among other gestures.
Similary,the Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ,Malam Ibrahim Garba, commended the commissioner for the robust support and cooperation members of the chapel received throughout his tenure
