The Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has reiterated the desire to ensure that the state is less dependent on "the increasingly inadequate federal allocation".

Speaking at a five-day retreat for the newly recruited staff of Harmony Holdings Limited, Dr. Ahmed said that government's collaboration with the private sector in the running of its business enterprises is to ensure that such companies boost the Internally Generated Revenue of the State and shift emphasis from dependency on federal allocation.

According to a statement, Governor Ahmed explained that the Harmony Holdings' public private partnership approach was to benchmark against global best practice to ensure that the company and its subsidiaries are properly run.

According to him "a new sense of work culture of being target driven is necessary to meet the plethora of challenges as federal allocation alone cannot sustain the development of the states. Any State that will survive must come up with ingenuity in its operation".

The Governor charged the management and staff of the Harmony Holdings Limited to tap all hidden revenue potentials for the financial viability and prosperity of Kwara State.

He reiterated that the Holding company has the mandate to acquire assets and liabilities of existing government commercial entities in sectors as diverse as financial services, transportation, real estate, printing, publishing, agriculture, hospitality and oil and gas.

Governor Ahmed added that the vision for Harmony Holdings Limited is ?to be among the top 3 government owned Holding Companies in Nigeria with minimum annual revenue of N50billion in 2032.

He added that for the achievement of this vision, Harmony Holding ?will focus on sectors and value chain opportunities that will deliver significant economic activities, thereby boosting the revenue base of the State and also position government to deliver better services to the people?.

The Chairman, Board of Directors of Harmony Holdings Limited, Professor Halidu Abubakar in his remarks, said the enterprise would be run as a gateway for the attraction of local and foreign investors by ensuring that the Holding Company and its subsidiaries become a world class institution.

Professor Halidu said the retreat was designed to put the seed staff of the Harmony Holdings Limited in good stead for the challenges ahead.