THE EXPLICIT OF GOVERNOR M. A. TWO YEARS ON

Mostly a cacophony slacktivism,  the performance of GMA administration in the past two years can be access in just a paragraph,  or a simple single sentence of "Not quite good representation".  The garrulous Governor always trying his top most best to polish his under performance with an excessive rantings about his predecessors. The talking about the so-called debt on the treasury,  the country's recession position the most pressing of all,  the issue of Civil Servants work force and the verification exercise to sanitize the payroll,  to have a consolidated payroll to achieve what many people think as governor's motive to save more money for only God knows. 

After assuming office,  the first International trip he took was to Czech Republic,  His Excellency claimed to have pursued an abandoned M.O.U signed by his predecessor, The Government of Malam Isa Yuguda signed a memorandum of understanding with a Zlin zoo for upgrade of the Yankari Games Reserve. Also the Governor claimed to have signed other MOUs with Czech Republic Ministry of Agriculture,  which resulted to an awarding of scholarship to some Bauchi State indigenes to further their studies in the various fields of agriculture,  I witnessed that and people like me said "KUDOS!!!" to that development.

The China trips also got a glad tidings of many promises,  the investment invitations and grant in aid. Not forgetting some 100 trucks gift to the government of the State,  that after about more than a year,  the trucks are yet to arrive.  The China trip was to woo investors these includes the upgrades of the Bauchi Meat factory,  the State own radio and the Television to be upgraded by StarTimes.

The past two years was a rough time for the people of the State, the trip was thorny and the bite mark on, on the bed of recession,  where a state that solely depends on the FAAC allocation goes in to oblivion and fight hard to survive.  The man who's mandate was to manned the affairs is widely characterized as the most unstable leader ever had in the State,  because he cannot speak straight truth to the people.

Governor Abubakar could have break the jinx, while Bauchi is in dare need of development and the thirst for it depends on the performance of the people in helm to quench the yearnings of the people, from 29th May, 2015 to date that we mark two years on the throne, people keep complaining about the state of affairs. As civil service dependant state, one will not play with the prompt payment of salaries, the economy of Bauchi State depends vehemently on how the government tackle the problem of the payment of Civil Servants salary. The State cannot boast of IGR, the administration of revenue generation is so poor, the State Board of Internal Revenue is just not functioning the way it is supposed to be, because the current Chairman of the Board is more or less a stooge, being a sitting duck will not serve a purpose.

Two years on, Bauchi State is still lingering to meet the millennia, it's a pity, when one visit our neighbouring sister, in fact a carved out State from us, that is the Gombe State, and can be perturbed to the wonderful and tremendous development in Gombe, and Bauchi become the opposite, and it is disturbing also to see that, Bauchi is collecting higher FAAC allocation than Gombe, the difference is that, may be Gombe can generate more IGR than Bauchi, or Gombe are just lucky to have patriotic governors more than us.

The Political trembling in Bauchi State, from the inception in 2015, whence this Government was sworn in, the fracas that still exist between the GMA camp and the so-called Abuja faction is another thorny obstacle to the development of the State.

The true-blue about GMA performance to me, is just below average, i cannot score him more than that, because i never believe he can do more than this, mostly concern about hedonism, respectfully is not an insult if i say he cares more for sporting relating issues than business of the serious performance. For two years in office, GMA cannot commission even a single project, despite the bragada on his several of roads constructions, whom they claimed to be more than any governor ought to have constructed in the State. The only field in which he seem to be doing something and the project is just going locomotive. We are rosarians that is why we totally deject the Governor's sophistry, he made us to saudade and with that he cannot have our support, we sees him as a person that lack credibility. The almost 4 kilometre CBN roundabout to Railway junction was awarded exorbitantly and after about 17 months from the flagging up, the construction could not passed up to 40% completion.

 

The Central Market roundabout to Awalah roundabout is another skirmish performance of the governor, the renovation of that road became a subject of mockery to the government, for almost 4 months the surface of the road was removed in anticipation that a new tarmac was going to be laid, still the work is chameleoning and one can never tell when would the surface is going to be laid. The most disturbing is, both the two roads are State government project, if i can say the only State own funded project, beside the being exorbitant in the price, the slow-gish move of the work is questionable.

The performance in the Health sector is almost the same, beside the said 20 or 19 SDGs sponsored PHC hospital nothing will be shown in the health sector, as i'm putting down this blog, the Specialist Hospital Bauchi is suffering from excessive outrage of power supply, there is always a black out in the hospital that is supposed to keep home to patients including those with critical case of diseases, it is evidently clear the government cannot be able to settle the electricity bills of the building, patients struggles always to supply themselves with alternative as the industrious standby generators cannot be fueled to supply enough power for other related hospital activities if there is no NEPA.

Although the SDGs project could be the only explicit completed projects in the State, with some hospitals waiting for commissioning and the the rest are yet to be completed,  it was the 2015/2016 counterpart funding as partly paid by the State, but the report had it that, the 2017 payment could not be met in the budget, because the governor and the BAHA members cannot agree on the amount, source informed me.

As always claimed by the government and it officials, the education sector, recorded a better performance, mark you, in 2016 budget, despite the over 28% allocated to the Ministry, there wasn't a single capital project done by the Ministry, although the SUBEB was said to have released the 2014/2015 projects, contractors were called in for tender and biddings, up to now the project that have taken up in October 2016, could not be funded until February 2017, till today, many contractors could not access the funds for the projects, most of the classroom renovation are yet to be met with, not to talk of the new ones.

Governor Abubakar is always playing honestly to buy sympathy from the people,  but his popularity is always diminishing due to lack of sincerity of purpose,  even a small kid on the streets can tell who the governor was. There are certain field one can't deny the fact that, GMA has done well, because he has tried his possible best to accommodate the payment of salaries, he is among the few Nigerian governors that has settled the backlog. He used the Bailout funds to settled some financial inherited from the past administration.

Notwithstanding, GMA is being seen as a man without frugality, people cannot trust his words, as a governor his palate become so cheap to be handle even by an amateur media team, if at all they advice him on communication skills.

I was about to round up this little piece, when i stumble upon the Governor's speech, to commemorate the Democracy day, and a two years on the throne. GMA explicitly and vividly outlined the a lot of things visible and invisible as his achievements in the past two years, i perused the contents and i found it an inundate, because it was full of a more mirage than reality. i highlighted some of the said projects said to have been done by them, like the SDGs projects which was a counterparts funding, SUBEB projects which was also a counterparts funded projects, The Saphenous of all the said projects is the roads constructions presently ongoing is like a subterfuge from the part of the government, we all know it was a CBN intervention funds  N12.5bn, What the people need from GMA is prism not pedantry, frugality and dedication.

It's a welcoming development to have learnt that, His Excellency has woo investors from China to invest in the Mining sector, a sum worth $25.7bn which will include a State of the art 2,500 Beds Hospital, and also 3500 mega watt of electricity for the benefit of the State. This is a good gesture, and hopefully this may not turn to be another jingoes.

Bauchi State has suffered setbacks, the past ten years saw us to be just a gullible people who became erroneously misruled by those who think they eat our cake and still have it. We suffer a lot from those cunning who have the dexterity to handle our welfare they way they want it to be, they took us hostages through our jugular and there is nothing we can do because they have our mandate.

I said it time and beyond that, GMA could have seized the advantage in the recession and bought for himself a popularity that no any governor has. He should have brought economic projects where money can circulate within the people not these roads constructions that will never directly impact a common man on the streets of Bauchi. 10,000 housing units estates is far better than all the roads being constructed , because the recession has bite the people tremendously that any other development beside their pockets is fruitless. GMA should understand that in Bauchi State, people depends on civil servants to survive even businesses depends on the civil servants, therefore, a remedy to salary in this State is economic projects, that will surely soften the hardship people are facing as a result of recession. At the end we pray that, GMA will see the wisdom in the set up of our people and device a mean of championing the heart of the people.

#GodBlessBauchiState...


Ahmad M. Salihu
wrote from Bauchi