The GombeState Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Naomi Awak has lamented the challenges
that confronted her when she assumed office on the 12th November, 2019, blamingthe past Government under the leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo as notbeen serious with their work while thanking God for bringing the currentExecutive Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya on board for putting things in place throughhis pragmatic leadership towards addressing the maladministration of theprevious Government.The Commissionerwho also noted with dismay that on the 12th November, 2019 when she assumedoffice at the premises of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Developmentat exactly 7.49am and reported in her office at 8am that morning, there was no access to her office, workers did notcome to work until calls were put to them, these were workers who supposed tobe at work at least 8am -8.30 am and such negative narratives were later changed by the leadership style ofGovernor Inuwa Yahaya together with his commissioners who come to work on dailybasis by 7.30 to 8am daily.
Mrs NaomiAwak pointed out that the first week of her assumption to duty, the challengesthat confronted her was attendance, they dont come to office in time and shethanked God that the punctuality has improved because she ensures that shecomes to office in time by 8.am which the staffs studied and they improvedpunctuality hence not only Ministry of Women Affairs but all of theCommissioners come to office in time in their various ministries.
Anotherdisturbing revelation from the Commissioner was that she met dilapidatedbuilding with falling ceilings, dirty environment and bushy premises which werenot conducive for productivity activities hence Mrs Naomi Awak blamed theworkers on the other hand and the pastGovernment on the other hand because if the past Government had the people atheart honestly things would not have been on that way, we appreciate God, wegive God the glory for bringing the mantra of change to Gombe State for giving usgood Governor, the Executive GovernorAlhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya.
According toher, when I toured the Rehabilitation Centre, we discovered that the childrenin the Remain home were sleeping on bare floor, you can imagine human beingssleeping on bare floor at this harmattan, this is terribly bad despite the factthat they are there for correctional measures but that does not mean we shouldkeep them on bare floor and treat them as if they are not human beings, ongetting there and seeing the situation, Government of Gombe State quicklyintervened and bought them Kitchens utensils, mattresses, blankets, food itemsand even drugs that was not available in their Pharmacy as well as bought outthose items while we are working on falling ceilings, falling roofs anddilapidated building to make it habitable which should be done before the endof this month.
Anotherlamentable situation was a lot of things were in shambles and the previousGovernment did not take a drastic measures to address them and they thanked Godfor APC mantra of change that brought the Governor Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya whohas the interests and aspirations of the masses at heart in delivering all thecampaigns promises made to the people of Gombe state while declaring a state ofemergency on education sector whereby all the children who were initiallyout-of schools- had gone back to schools.
She saidfurther that the Rehabilitation Centre which houses deaf workshop. Blindworkshop where the people of disabilities produces various art works for selland make small profit is a laughing stock which needed urgent action andefforts are on the line to change the ugly narratives of the Centre by theGovernment.
Mrs NaomiAwak noted that the Governor had made giant efforts in addressing the challengingfacing the state such as the BESDA programme intervention which have benefittedwomen, children and vulnerable where the girls acquired both Islamic andwestern education had come on board.
Last year,over 100 women benefitted from the bank of Industry and Federal Ministry ofagriculture by getting soft assistance to open up poultry farms and othersundry assistance to enable operate small scale businesses and that had gone along away in assisting women in the state while the programme is ongoing.
Similarly,Honorable Commissioner pointed out that First Lady of Gombe State, Hajiya AsmauMohammed Inuwa Yahaya had flagged-off distribution of food items to lessprivileged in the state to support the needy members of the society initiatedby the office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, HajiyaAisha Muhammadu Buhari.
According toher, the food distribution programme targeted the less privileged members ofthe society which included orphans, widows, people with disabilities as well asreligious groups, associations and others.
She said that the Wife of the Governor Hajiya Asma’u Yahaya in her efforts noted that the initiatives was beingpursued by Aisha Buhari through her petproject, ” future assured’ and itwas in line with policies and programmes of the state Government’s programmeswhich was targeted at the empowering youths, women and other vulnerable groupswithin the society.
She added that the overall objectives wasaddressing immediate needs of a common man which should be a matter of priorityto every responsible Government, as such Gombe state will ensure close andsustained partnership with the Federal Government and other Non-Governmental organizations in developinginitiatives that have direct bearing on the lives of the people.
According to her, state First Lady used the occasion to appeal to the representatives of the benefiting individuals and groups to be fair and just in distributing the items while the monitoring team has been set up to ensure a fair distribution process with a view to reaching out to the targeted beneficiaries.
