Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has presented the 2024 budget to the tune of N521.6 billion to the state House of Assembly.

While presenting the proposed budget allocation tagged, ‘Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth’ to the Enugu State House of Assembly on Tuesday, Mbah said it was an ambitious and highest budgetary allocation in the state’s history meant to expand the economy of Enugu.

The governor also earmarked 33 percent in 2024 budgetary allocation, which amounts to N134.5 billion, to the education sector of the state.

It is recorded that Enugu State under Mbah is the first state in Nigeria to allocate such a bogus percentage and amount to education, thus surpassing the United Nation’s recommended 25 percent threshold for education.

According to him, in the total estimate, Enugu State earmarks N107.2 billion for recurrent expenditure and N414.3 billion capital expenditure for the fiscal year of 2024. He said: “We have taken the view that one of the surest ways of ensuring sustainable eradication of poverty is through the aggressive enhancement of our education and public health systems.

“After all, we know that education correlates all over the globe with economic advancement and prosperity, while health on the other hand is critical for the optimisation of the human resources of any nation or sub- national entity.”

The governor further said in line with the government’s commitment to reinventing the education system in the state, “we are constructing 260 Smart Model Basic Schools across the 260 wards in the state which will rank amongst the best in the country.

“The pilot Smart Model Basic School in Owo Community in Nkanu East Local Government Area is now ready for commissioning and similar schools will be replicated in all the 260 wards across the 17 council areas in the state.

“We are also in the process of constructing 260 Type2 Primary Health Centres across the 260 wards in the state to cater for the health needs of rural communities which are paramount in our health care agenda,” he said.

On security, Mbah said no economic growth is possible without security, adding: “We have ensured the discontinuation of the ignoble Monday sit-at-home campaign.

“We have boosted the security framework within the state with the introduction of the Distress Response Squad, which has recorded several successes, effectively bringing the crime rate in Enugu State to a bare minimum.

“We are going further by commencing the installation of a CCTV surveillance network around the state. Work is at an advanced stage on this initiative,” he said.