GMA and the prism of leadership in Bauchi

Home to the ‘a kasa a tsare’ phenomenon of voting and policing of votes to make sure they count, home to Nigeria’s First and only prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, home to  Sa’adu Zungur of legendary poetic and political repute, and a home that has been a pivotal leader of  transformation and development of […]

Home to the ‘a kasa a tsare’ phenomenon of voting and policing of votes to make sure they count, home to Nigeria’s First and only prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, home to  Sa’adu Zungur of legendary poetic and political repute, and a home that has been a pivotal leader of  transformation and development of Nigeria’s political landscape, Bauchi has proven to be a very advanced and ideological political battleground and has many times led in the quest for change, even before the change we know today. In recent times, Bauchi has always voted against the establishment and against the government of the day. At best one could say that Bauchi politics is complex and always on the ‘adawa’ swing (against establishment or government) and at worst, usually controversial and confrontational.
First is this steady imbalance brought about by the Bauchi and Katagum disharmony (the two most influential senatorial zones of the state). If a leader comes from the Katagum zone, then he is bound never to get it right with the Bauchi people and should the leader be from Bauchi, then Katagum people are bound to find him faulty and only God knows why this happens but suffice it here to say that a newer generation of Bauchi indigenes is evolving to obliterate these barriers. So find no surprise as to the dissenting voices and the anti-government stance coming more from Katagum zone; it is simply an age old tradition in Bauchi State and like I pointed earlier, our generation is growing into one without the Katagum – Bauchi dichotomy. For example I schooled in Katagum and so most of my friends and close family friends come from that area. My mother comes from the zone as well so issues like these are breaking these barriers.
Secondly, Bauchi has this way of embracing and accepting rumours as ‘truths’. If someone maliciously concocts a story or twists the facts of an event or issue and the gist spread like wild fire and if you would swear by the Qur’an, nobody would believe you should the truth be revealed afterwards. Well the first word has done the irreparable damage and the damage trends more and for longer.
Recently, there was an attempt by some legislators of Bauchi extraction at the National Assembly to revisit the bailout funds issue with all intent to discredit Governor Mohammed Abubakar (GMA) and bring him to his knees in the court of public opinion. What they didn’t realise was that the governor’s handling of the bailout funds was stellar and exemplary.  The funds were used in total, all 8.6 billion naira to offset the inherited salary backlog. A balance of N88 million remained in a dedicated account of which N70 million was used in paying salaries owed to staff of the state varsity leaving just 18 million naira. The NLC wrote to commend him over the prudent handling of the bailout. The ICPC also investigated the matter and GMA was the only governor that honored the ICPC’s invitation over the issue and was satisfied with his account of the bailout funds.
GMA is building roads both urban and rural to the tune of over N6 billion. Some of the rural roads have bridges and the urban roads have parts that are being dualised with compensations being paid to property owners. More roads are going to be rolled out soon. GMA is building primary health care centres in all the local government areas with staff accommodation.
The state government has secured a loan of over 500 million naira to farmers in the state and has embarked on an aggressive drive to get more funding for the state’s farmers. An ambitious project for the expansion of the Bauchi water supply scheme to the tune of 65 million dollars is being embarked upon with the state matching the 6.5 million dollars in partner funding. The sum of N2 billion is being spent in the improvement of schools round the state under the UBEC scheme while 120 million is spent monthly on the secondary schools feeding programme. Yankari Game Reserve is being improved and repositioned as alternative source of revenue generation and already there has been a 20% increase in the revenue generated from the game reserve.
For three months, Bauchi state received allocations that weren’t adequate to pay workers’ salaries, and within the period, the state government has been subsidising salaries for the local governments to the tune of N400 million a month. Funds have been scarce and GMA has ably mustered the economic prudence to plug leakages and waste in spending to be able to pay salaries and still execute projects to develop the state.
Governor Abubakar is facing opposition from certain APC party members who claim to be the merger cabal and have in one way or the other forgotten to acknowledge the fact that the governor is the leader of the party and thus most decision making is done with him. It is no longer a merger where different factions and groups are serviced and appeased for the process to progress. We have progressed already into an institution that is grappling with a recessive economy and how to appease the people that voted it. We need to put our heads together. If our members keep fighting each other, it is our house that will suffer.
Bauchi’s woes are always blown out of proportion and are either manufactured or exaggerated by a few who are still disgruntled and remain sore losers. It was an open secret that whoever was taking over the reins of a cumbersome political climate in Bauchi was in for it especially with a debt pile and a lean expenditure purse. Upon all this, Governor Abubakar has this onerous task of not relenting in trying to unite all and create a more peaceful environment of coexistence with every stakeholder a winner.
Tahir is the Talban Bauchi & Senior Special Assistant (Schedule) to the Bauchi State governor.