Date: 2017-01-30

As a token appreciation for the performance of Kwara State Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and its allied agencies, the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) last week presented an award to the ministry in Ilorin. AHMED 'LATEEF reports.

Against the backdrop of national economic recession and its attendant effects on governments at all levels, including especially the inability to meet numerous fiscal obligations, it primarily became pretty difficult for the governments to have enough resources to meet other exigencies of infrastructure and welfare.

Apparently disturbed by the unpleasant situation, federal and state governments started looking inward to seek ways to mitigate the effects of the financial quagmire.

Kwara State was not exempted, such that it reached a stage that the government found it uneasy to fund capital projects and some recurrent expenditures.

This prompted the state government to tap and harness resources that were hitherto lying fallow to be able to tackle some of the challenges posed by the financial problem.

Cognizant that the problem may persist with recurring shortfalls in monthly allocations, the state government effected 'surgical operation' in the state revenue generating agency through amendment to the law establishing it. And the implication of the amendment through legislative instrument was turning the agency, which was operated as a government parastatal to a full fledge independent organization with no recourse to any official.

This, it is believed, was to ensure transparency and improve service delivery in the agency, which had since been renamed "Kwara State Internal Revenue Service" (KWIRS).

Since the activities of the service took off fully last year, the revenue profile of the state has increased tremendously. This is being achieved through improvement in technology, processes and human capacity.

With the primary mandate of harnessing available resources, the KWIRS began to explore some areas that were initially untapped leading to an expansion of area of coverage for revenue generation.

The service therefore dispatched its officials to some revenue generating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with manifest evidence that the initiative had begun to yield fruitful result.

In the current revenue drive however, the state Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and its allied agencies stunned the state when it turned in a whooping sum of N1.3billion as revenue generated for year 2016 from its own end.

The huge revenue was generated by the Urban and Regional Planning in the ministry, the Town Planning Development Authority and the state Housing Corporation.

It was against this performance considered historic that the state Internal Revenue Service yesterday visited the ministry premises along Commissioner's Lodge Way, Ilorin to present an award to it as the best performing ministry in revenue generation for the 2016.

Speaking at the brief ceremony, the Executive Chairman, KWIRS, Dr Muritala Awodun, said the performance of the Housing Ministry last year was remarkable, adding that it generated more than the fund projected for it.

Represented by the Director in charge of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the service, Mrs Iyabo Abubakar, the KWIRS boss, however, urged the ministry to seek alternative by surpassing the achievement it recorded in the year 2016.

Awodun also implored the ministry and agencies under it to also explore traditional revenue lines in order to make more money for the strategic development of the state, just as he sought more collaboration with the KWIRS to improve the state financial base.

He said, "We acknowledge the performance of your ministry in the financial year 2016. You are the leading revenue generation ministry in the state. The amount that was generated was a big surprise far above what was projected for this ministry.

"We commend the performance of the ministry and staff. We want to charge you on better performance in 2017. As good as 2016 performance was, let us look inward and cast back our mind to the areas where we recorded shortfalls. Let us look for alternative to replace the huge amount of money we made in 2016.

"Let us look at traditional revenue lines to make more money for the government. We want to see innate ability of members of staff to put in their professional best", Awodun said.

In his remark, the state Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Muideen Alalade, said the impressive performance of the ministry was not a magic, pointing out that "we designed possible solutions for problems envisaged in the future".

He promised that the ministry will focus its attention on town planning agency and housing corporation in ensuring that they add value to the activities of the ministry in harnessing all available resources.

He said the ministry has been able to identify fresh revenue lines through ongoing restructuring in some agencies and departments, saying "We are blocking areas of loopholes and improve on efficiency of staff".

The commissioner, however, said the ministry discovered some challenges confronting the agencies such as befitting accommodation and mobilities, which he stated, may hinder the operation of the agencies and urged the KWIRS to assist them in addressing the problems.

He assured that his office will work hard to ensure that it surpasses the revenue made into the coffers of the government last year.

"While evaluating the agencies, we discovered some challenges that needed to be addressed before we can see good result in these agencies. We want to implore the KWIRS to find a way of helping the ministry with accommodation and mobility to enhance the performance", Alalade said.

He also disclosed that digitization of building approvals will commence latest by March as part of the current drive to fully explore technology.

"We have started all the paper work (on digitization of town planning approvals) while necessary arrangements are underway. By the special grace of God, latest by March, it will take-off fully and everybody will be happy.

"There is nowhere in the world now that you will go without getting the record or data of how many buildings in each and every community in the state. We need to know that, that will therefore take us to having a proper housing numbering in the state. That is one.

"Secondly, digitization of town planning approval has to start. As we are starting that, by our record, we have over 200,000 houses in Kwara that have already been granted approvals. We need to update all these approvals by bringing them to the computer and digitize them.

"In the process of doing this, we discovered that we need to bring in an expert that will digitize all the previous approvals that had been done. And by doing this, definitely, they (people) will have to pay token to get this thing done. While doing this, we will certainly realize more revenue for the state government", the commissioner said.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alhaji Babatunde Sidiq, urged the KWIRS to prioritize the motivation of the ministry and agencies to enhance better performance.