Muslim Lawal is the Personal Assistant on Media to the Honorable Commissioner, Bauchi state Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Aminu Hassan Gamawa. He chronicles the achievements of his Principal in his 100 days in office
The appointment of Dr. Aminu Hassan Gamawa as Honourable commissioner did not come as a surprise to many, particularly those who knew his pedigree as someone hitherto working in the United States of America (USA).
However, it became surprising to some who didn’t know his capacity to deliver in any given field of life when he was posted by Governor Bala Mohammed to, as a lawyer by profession and an advocate in societal issues, head the Budget and Planning Ministry, contrary to their expectations, presumably, Justice Ministry.
Notwithstanding, his emergence as Commissioner of budget and economic Planning came as a surprise to many because of the position he was holding at the United States of America.
His acceptance to come back home to serve his fatherland received accolades from different segments of the state owing to his international experience and expertise in critical sectors who has proven to be indispensable, someone Governor Bala Mohammed considers eminently qualified to manage the ministry of budget and economic planning.
Shortly after assumption of office, Dr Aminu Hassan Gamawa embarked on crucial discussions and consultations with critical stakeholders on budget, planning and administration.
While enumerating his plans for the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Gamawa vowed to ensure efficient mobilization, allocation and utilization of resources for the development of Bauchi state.
“The agenda and goals of my office will be among other things, improve the welfare of the people through effective and efficient use of resources, especially in the sectors of Health, Agriculture, Youths and Women Empowerment, housing, commerce and education”, the Commissioner had said.
He had promised to make sure that transparency and accountability in governance is promoted as well as developing a medium-term expenditure framework and a robust fiscal strategy paper for the state in addition to leveraging on the resources and opportunities available at the federal government for the development of the state.
The budget and economic planning commissioner pledged to also increase the effectiveness and efficiency of staff of the ministry in the discharge of their responsibilities by encouraging innovation in governance and adoption of best practices from other jurisdictions.
“Technology would be used to improve payroll administration, eliminate ghost workers and conduct training and retraining of civil servants to increase their productivity and ensure career development”, Dr. Gamawa said.
The Commissioner had also lined up other plans to be implemented by his office to include monitoring and evaluation framework that will ensure that the state government fulfills its promises and effectively execute its projects accordingly.
According to him, the ministry would ensure that citizens were carried along in setting up priorities with particular focus on project design, budgeting, implementation and monitoring.
Dr Aminu Gamawa pledged to prepare the state by making it attractive for support and partnership from donors, financial agencies and other stakeholders as well as identifying additional taxable public revenue streams and working with agencies collecting tax to increase internally generated revenue.
“The current management of the ministry would effectively co-ordinate Aid matters and activities of NGOs and development partners it has benefited from. “We would ensure strict monitoring and compliance with laid down rules, regulations and procedures on budgeting and budget implementation as well as produce statistical data on the activities of the state government so as to promote evidence and data-based planning and management”, the Commissioner promised.
Dr. Gamawa had even before his 100 days in office, featured on a Bauchi Radio Corporation’s phone in programme tagged “Tafiya da Gwani” disclosing that Bauchi state government will benefit from the construction of 500 kilometer road project under the rural access and agricultural marketing project.
The Commissioner said already, the World Bank has pledged to support the state government to fast track the execution of the project as it is part of the determination of the present administration in the state to ensure that rural farmers transport their products without any hitches.
In order to assist Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to find lasting solution to the challenges affecting critical sectors of the state’s economy, the Commissioner said that the ministry would ensure transparency and accountability in the budget proposal submitted by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“The Ministry was requested to work out modalities towards finding lasting solution to challenges facing Education, Health, Agriculture, unemployment and Poverty among others, by so doing the ministry would assist the governor to deliver on his campaign promises through monitoring and supervision of the developmental projects awarded”.
Dr Aminu Gamawa at a meeting of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition, says Bauchi State Government is fully committed towards the implementation of the food and nutrition strategy in the state.
The Commissioner said to achieve this, the state government would work with all the relevant stakeholders as government alone cannot tackle the problem, describing poverty as one of the major factor responsible for malnutrition cases in our society, “and I want to task you as members of the committee to contribute towards achieving the set objectives.”
He assured the readiness of the present administration in the state to support donor agencies and other stakeholders for effective implementation of their projects geared towards the development of the state.
Dr. Gamawa revealed that Bauchi State has recorded a number of successes in developing partnerships with the African Development Bank and was able to secure substantial new avenues of funding.
The funding according to him, would be a massive addition to the efforts Governor Bala Mohammed is making in tackling the developmental challenges currently facing the state, adding that, “this will be in addition to the continuation of the World Bank Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) project ending in June 2020.
The Commissioner maintained that the ministry of Budget and Economic Planning under his watch will coordinate the release of the funds and supervise the project to ensure proper implementation and ensure that the project is captured in the 2020 budget.
Following a meeting between the Commissioner, his colleagues and the African Development Bank (AFDB), Bauchi state will access a total amount of 44.63 Million Dollars of funding from AfDB (28.76 Million naira) as well as from the African Development Foundation ADF (15.87 Million naira) respectively. In addition to the funding obtained, there is an additional mechanism for funding that is dependent on qualified programme performance.
Dr. Gamawa has also engaged ministries to capture the activities under this project in the 2020 budget, due to the fact that the disbursements are linked with the performance of the state, which are also linked to specific performance indicators and criteria.
A number of clear objectives have been out in place by the Commissioner his mission to deliver on the promises of His Excellency Governor Bala A Mohammed.
In entering such a partnership with the African Development Bank, the present administration can take the next step in delivering key services to the people of Bauchi State in a timely, effective and resourceful manner.
These key services and projects include improving the quality of life, providing basic social services, sanitation, hygiene, health and education, livelihood opportunities, food security and a strengthened safety net system in selected areas with special needs in the state.
Also, the Ministry of Budget and planning has been spearheading a monitoring and evaluation framework as well as impact evaluations to ensure that the holistic strengthening initiatives have tangible results.
By this development, the Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Planning welcomes the conditions and criteria for further funding because the criteria for further funding are in line with some of the key campaign promises made by the governor which reflects the administrations wider goals.
On the outcome of the State Domestic Expenditure Arrears Management Workshop orgainzed by the WorldBank and the Debt Management Office held in Abuja, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning said the state government will ensure full implementation of the Disbursement-linked Indicators, a world Bank initiative, under State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability.
The Commissioner who was among the participants of the workshop, therefore pointed out that the capacity building in this regard is essential if the Bauchi State government is to tap into the maximum 51.2 million dollars available for development funding.
Dr Aminu Gamawa said the technical capacities developed will provide the officials of the State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning with the necessary tools to achieve the Disbursement-linked Indicators so as to assist the administration of Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to deliver on its mandate effectively.
Dr Aminu Hassan while attending an interactive session with agricultural stakeholders in the state hosted by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono, assured that the State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning will ensure that agriculture is prioritized in the budget and policies of the government in order to support Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to achieve his comprehensive agricultural policy and strategic implementation framework.
According to him, the governor has expressed the readiness and willingness of Bauchi State government and its people to take advantage of the agricultural policies of the federal government as part of
efforts to promote and improve agriculture in the state, assuring that the state would work with the Buhari’s administration and the private sector to tackle the problems facing farmers especially lack of access to credit, land, extension service, equipment, good seeds among others, this will be in addition to encouraging commercial agriculture and investment in the sector by focusing on improving the value chain, vertical and horizontal, and value addition.
The Honourable Commissioner within the first 100 days in office has held a crucial discussions with members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly Committee on Budget and Appropriation, World Bank officials, officials of International Republican Institute, officials of the State Chapter of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Media chat with Journalists, officials of CITAD, and a delegation of the Initiative for Liberalization of Physically Challenged People in Nigeria.
The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning under his leadership had conducted public hearings on the proposed 2020 budget across the 3 Senatorial Districts of the state as part of efforts to promote transparency and accountability and boost citizens participation in governance.
Dr Aminu Gamawa has also facilitated the disbursement of the 377 Million naira fund under the Community and Social Development Project in the state.
Similarly, on the 28th of September 2019 the Honourable Commissioner facilitated the Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Bauchi State Government and a consulting company, Africa Energy, S A Nigeria Limited with a view to enable the state government to access funding from Kuwait funds where the state is expected to access 200 million dollars.
The efforts of the Commissioner to ensure that the Ministry’s operations were conducted in accordance with the principles of good governance and blocking of gaps between the state government and development partners has yielded positive result as Donor Agencies and International organizations have declared interest to invest and support the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed.
With these positive developments and the giant strides by Honourable Dr. Aminu Hassan Gamawa, pundits believed, the Bauchi state economy is in safe hand and on the thresholds of robust growth.
Muslim Lawal is the Personal Assistant to the commissioner on Media and Publicity.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
