Bauchi state Governor, Sen. Bala Muhammed has hinted at the nature of his administration, saying it would remain consultative, prudent and all inclusive community based.
He also pledged to engage better hands into governance and with focus on the welfare of the people than the execution of white elephant projects lacking direct bearing on the lives of the ordinary people spiced with cheap political gain.
The governor dropped the hints in an interactive session with journalists in Bauchi penultimate Saturday.
Gov. Bala said rather than foisting projects on communities that have no direct bearing on their lives, he prefers to consult with the communities first and allow them to come up with those projects that are best and will impact positively on their lives.
Speaking on education, the State Commissioner for Education, Jamila Muhammed Dahiru said: “so far, over 400 classroom blocks phase 1 have been constructed while existing ones renovated, school uniforms were supplied to out of school girls in 15 of the 20 local governments in dire need, renovation and construction of 2-block and 3-block classrooms Batch IV in 391 schools, resuscitation of Government Technical College Gamawa, supply of 6,615 sleeping materials and learning tools to identified traditional Almajiri schools in eight local governments, renovation/ upgrade of Women Education Centre, Katagum, renovation/upgrading of BASAME learning centres in Misau, Ningi, Dass and Jama’are, supply of learning materials and procurement of furniture and office equipments in over 250 primary schools, supply of over 70,000 cartons of branded chalk to schools in rural areas, renovation of classroom blocks, provision of modern toilets and generators to over 20 secondary schools, renovation of principal’s residence, junior staff quarters, administrative block, supply of public address system, prohector, customized school bags and construction of 2,000- metre fence at GSSS Katagum among others to numerous to mention but can be verified by any interested person or group for clarity.
Other projects in the education sector include; renovation and construction of classroom blocks in virtually all public primary schools in the state accompanied with hand-pump boreholes, 50-unit of pupils/teacher furniture and provision of learning materials, constructed and equipped a world-class alternative High School in Bauchi, constructed/upgraded Special Education Centre, Bauchi, constructed/upgrading Government Day Technical College (TVET), Bauchi, constructed/equipped Government Technical College Gumau, construction and reboarding of eight public schools across the state.
In his contribution, Chairman of Alkaleri local government area, Garba Hassan Bajama, said the governor remains the most preferred leader of the electorates, who promised to bring together all the stakeholders in the state irrespective of party affiliation but share his vision and ready to support his effort to take the state to the highest pedestal of development within his tenure.
Bajama said: “Governor Bala is not the governor for PDP members alone but the governor for the entire people of Bauchi state as well as magnanimous in governance. He has introduced creative ideas in generating more revenue and transparency without necessarily burdening the masses with taxes.
“For instance, the administration has brought more people to invest in the economy and pay the required tax into the tax net and also explore abundant mineral resources and tourism potentials through the possibility of Public Private Partnership (PPP) with serious and globally recognized investors that are a bound. While doing that, he has also sustained the infrastructural renewal started by past administrations but abandoned because, according to the governor, infrastructural decay in the state is massive and public funds had already been channeled to those abandoned projects that should not be allowed to waste for any reason, noting that no meaningful economic development can be achieved without infrastructural renewal and adequate provisions of the basics.
“The governor has looked more closely into agriculture and its value chain to create additional jobs and empower the people particularly the peasant farmers domiciled in the hinterland. He may engage consultants to partner with our agricultural specialists in the concerned ministry and agencies of government to come up with modalities on how best to improve our agricultural potentials and make agriculture more attractive to the people particularly the youths and divert their attention from the syndrome of wild goose chase of non-existing white collar jobs
“The governor is also developing our abundant tourist sites scattered all over the state. The state can make a lot of money through tourist sites if carefully managed, and the government may go into PPP with interested investors in the tourism industry.
“The state also has abundant mineral resources beneath the ground yet to be tapped. Those mineral resources shall be converted for their economic values and channeled to human development for the benefit of our people.
“The governor shall not hesitate, embracing a PPP arrangement where possible to tap all the hidden resources underneath the ground for conversion to the comfort of the people thereby creating an industrial park for national and global patronage.
“Governor Bala is also considering the possibility of the likelihood of holding an economic summit in the near future to prepare the ground for an industrial revolution towards increased revenue”.
On steady payment of salaries and pensions, Sen. Bala said so far despite the economic stress, monthly salaries are regularly paid and every month the promised N100million is released for payment of pension to those deserving pensioners and his administration is looking inward to increase internally generated revenue as a back-up to his blue-print tailored to the good of the state.
“We will bring people from other climes for investments that should pay tax into the tax net. That will help us in paying salaries and pensions easily and will less stress on the economy”, he said
On the outcry of concentration of infrastructure in Bauchi south, Sen. Bala said it is the wishful thinking of the detractors of his government that Bauchi south is favored in the distribution of infrastructure against the other zones even though, it should be understood that the state capital is located within the southern zone but that has not denied the other components their share of development.
He added that his administration would continue to focus more attention on rural and semi-urban development for socio-economic reasons.
“I will continue to pay absolute attention to rural development to additionally stem rural-urban unnecessary migration and position the rural dweller to accessing the dividends of democracy without migrating to urban areas”, he said
Gov. Bala also promised to empower the masses particularly the downtrodden ones in various ways, saying that any programme that is not aimed at empowering the people would not be embraced by his administration no matter what, adding that, already, 1000 tricycles have been distributed to interested persons for commercial operation, several bags of rice and other edibles were distributed to cushion the hardship while other mouth-watering incentives are on the way for better living conditions.
He said: “Our programmes will be tailored towards those that need genuine assistance as well as the masses generally. My administration is people-focused as a bond”.
In his comment on the leadership style of Gov. Bala Muhammed, his Special Adviser on Media/Publicity, Comrade Muktar Gidado said: “The successes of Governor Bala Muhammed are from prudent spending and transparency, the good people of Bauchi state would have been left to mourn the victory of “the forces of fake change”. Our state has narrowly escaped from another tragedy of development which God made miraculously possible for the Governor’s victory which he has not abused. Without divine intervention when the forces of fake change almost and fraudulently snatched our victory, the good people of our state would have been in mourning by now
“The success of Bala Muhammed is the outcome of positive thinking and the desire for a better evenly developed Bauchi State. The people are definitely the end beneficiaries of our stewardship which is anchored on transparency and the rule of law. We are mortgaging our comfort for the benefit of the people as we are mandated to do”.
Meanwhile, some projects embarked upon by the government have been commissioned and put to use for the good of the people while others nearing completion are receiving what the governor’s Special Adviser (SA) Media/ Communication, described as “double effort for completion: groundbreaking ceremony for other projects dare to the people are on final stage for execution. Before 2027, the governor must have transformed the state to an El Dorado at minimum cost”.
Speaking on cases of rumored defection from the ruling party (PDP) in the state Gidado said: “There is no cause for alarm as defection is part of human nature. As others defect, others join but defection will neither affect the smooth running of government nor disrupt the governor’s attention to trivial issues. Those who defected for good, others replaced them and we remain where we are with full determination to justify the mandate given to the governor”.
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
