As the saying goes; governments come and go, but what is more important for development enthusiasts is continuity in infrastructural and human capital development for young democracies such as Nigeria. In this musings with newsmen in Bauchi, Suleiman Mai Posta, Chairman of a Bauchi based non-governmental organization;Democracy and Good Governance Forum, argued that although the administration of Bala Mohammed inherited many uncompleted projects from the previous government, the administration will remain focused in executing news ones and completing the abandoned projects. He started by highlighting the objective of the forum he leads; excerpts:
Mai posta:it is simply a mandate forum established to engage elected and politicalappointees on key issues of quality representation, good governance as well asidentifying their respective projects that have direct bearing on the lives of
the peopleQuestion:it is almost a year now since the presentBauchi state governor senator Bala Mohammed assumed office, how would yourforum assess the administration?
Mai posta:You know the present administration came through what we call “popular vote”,as Senator Bala Mohammed was elected across political party lines and religions.Remember he defeated an incumbent Governor seeking reelection. Coming from theopposition people’s Democratic Party PDP, a onetime senator and former ministerof FCT Abuja, senator Bala Mohammed is very much aware of the many challengesahead of him. Let me draw you back alittle, the sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium Bauchi has the carrying capacityof 15,000 people, but on the day of his inauguration, the stadium was filled tocapacity in such a manner that the Governor hardly access some routes within thestadium to just wave the mammoth crowd, as such, since he assumed office he hasnot left anyone indoubt in terms of infrastructural development of Bauchistate. Within his first one hundred days in office, Governor Bala Mohammedawarded key important road projects across the state, they includude the 4.4kilometer Gombe road to MaidUguri bye-pass, 6.2 kilometer Sabon kaura to josroad, 1.8 kilometers Yakubun Bauchi quarters, and the 1 kilometer Muda Lawalmarket road projects. Other road projects awarded include the 58.4 km, Burga inTafawa Balwewa Local Government to Yelwan Dnguri in Alkaleri Local Government,the 16.2 km Sade to Akuyam road project that linked Darazo and Misau local Governmentareas as well as the 1.3 km hospital road Azare, and another 6.5 km Tafawa
Balewa road all in Azare the headquarters of Katagum Local Government area and 50percent down payment has since been paid to all the contractors to facilitatetheir timely completion.Question:what is the position of abandonedprojects inherited by this Government?
Mai posta:Governor Bala Mohammad has since reassured the people of Bauchi state that allabandon projects would be given due attention and you can see that contractorshandling various road projects awarded by his predecessor M.A Abubakar havesince been mobilized back to site. They are the much talked about 4.5 kilometerMurtala Mohammed way and the 16.8 kilometer Awalah round about to Miri roadprojects among others. Let me not forget one of the impactful project awardedby this government is the contract for the rehabilitation and expansion ofwater supply facilities to end the age long perennial water scarcity facing thepeople—and this project which has reached an advanced stage of completionhandled by the world Bank through the Bauchi State Urban Water and Sewage Corporationcost the state and its partners the sum of 65.5 million US dollars with 6.5million dollars being a counter part fund from the state government, while thesum of 137million naira was released for the state water corporation to addressthe problem of water shortage within the metropolis and environs.
Question: As a strong supporter of the governor and ayoung politician; Do you foresee any hope for the youth in Bauchi state?
Mai posta:Yes of course, this is a youth friendly government that many of his policiesand programmes are geared towards youth development and empowerment as well asthe educational development of the society.
Theyouth in Bauchi state defied all sort of harassment, intimidations and in someinstances arrest in the last elections where they led the crusade for change ofgovernment in Bauchi state.
Educationremains key to youth development and empowerment and one of senator BalaMohammed’s projects is the foundation laying for the construction of north eastUBEC model schools in Bauchi, the disbursement of five hundred thousand nairaeach to 1,320 schools in five local government areas under the 2019 schools improvementproject grants, a world Bank assisted as well as the massive construction,renovation and rehabilitation of primary schools across the state with a viewto reinvigorating the education sector generally.
Anotheryouth empowerment policies of the governor is the recent distribution of 3,085knapsack sprayers to youth across the 323 political wards of the state duringthe launched of the state agricultural policy document and you can see that theissue of youth restiveness “the notorious sarasuka” has reduced drastically. Governmenthas also established the Bauchi state road transport agency Barota which iffully take off would absorb the teaming unemployed youth in the state, inaddition to presentations of cars, motorcycles and financial support to manyyouth for their businesses. The administration through the ministry ofeducation has also introduced a scheme to register youth who failed in variousexaminations in forms of remedial studies to enable them further theireducation. And again, Bauchi state now have an established oil and gas academyAlkaleri Courtesy of his Excellency Kauran Bauchi, the people’s Governor whichwe of course believed it will create a lot of educational and job opportunitiesfor the good people of Bauchi state, particularly the youth. There are alsomany social welfare schemes embarked upon by this administration aimed at givenpeople of the state a sigh of relief. Some of these poverty reduction, youthand women empowerment polices of Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed include, thedistribution of 377 million naira as grants to 21 communities benefiting fromthe community and social development project CSDP, released of the sum of 19million naira as the state counterpart funds to the world bank for the finalcycle of the 20,416 public workfare beneficiaries of the youth employment andsocial support operation (YESSO), a world Bank assisted project.
TheBauchi state commission for youth and women rehabilitation and developmentBACYWARD has also been reorganized by the Bala Mohammed led administration tofurther absorb unemployed youth and women through practical skills and start uppacks to enable them become self-reliant.
Question:Before his election, Governor BalaMohammed encountered a lot of problems such as rejections from some highlyrated politicians and opinion leaders; would this affect his performance as agovernor?
Mai posta:Not at all, and remember the governor defeated an incumbent governor, so therewas the power of incumbency but from the day he was sworn in, Governor BalaMohammed publicly declared that he is for all and has for given all those thatundermined every processes, where he called on all to join hands with him inbuilding a strong and reliable Bauchi state that everyone would be proud of. Sofor me, nothing would stop him from performing in spite of the lean resourcesin Bauchi state.
Whatis required now is, since Governor Bala Mohammed and his government is doingexcellently well, people of the state should endeavor to support hisadministration with prayers and good will in his quest to take Bauchi state togreater heights.
Question:finally, what advice would you give tothe supporters of the government and the opposition?
Mai Posta:first to the supporters, let’s remain steadfast in ensuring that, the laudablepolicies and programs of the present administration in Bauchi state succeeds sowe can collectively leave legacies for future generations to emulate.
Andto the opposition, government is all about delivering dividends of democracy tothe people and the administration of Bala Mohammed has since proven that giventhe number of projects and polices it has initiated, so they need to supportthe government to enable it succeed. Lets I forget, look at the constitution ofhis cabinet which cuts across political party lines religious and tribalbeliefs, targeted at moving Bauchi state forward.
