Governor Nyako and battle to salvage Adamawa State

What you essentially had in the book was a compendium of legacies left by some of the greatest men and women that the world had been endowed with. It featured politicians and civil rights activist like Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela; scientists and inventors like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison […]

What you essentially had in the book was a compendium of legacies left by some of the greatest men and women that the world had been endowed with. It featured politicians and civil rights activist like Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela; scientists and inventors like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Louis Daguerre; sports and entertainment celebrities like Mohammad Ali, the Beetles and Oprah Winfrey.

On a scale of 1-10, I will give the book a reluctant six. This is because it left out those who  I believe have been the most influential people to ever walk the planet earth; Jesus, the son of Mary and Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Between them, they have over two-thirds of the world population adhere to the religions that they brought for the salvation of mankind. But, as the publishers put it: the book was “printed and manufactured in China”. No surprise you could say!

However, with all its deficiency in who made the list and who did not, the book got me thinking. Those it credited with changing the world had truly and explicably left their marks on the annals of world history and therefore, deserve such special recognition. Only that, when the second edition is compiled in the future, we expect to see names like the world’s leading philanthropist and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates; Mohammed Yunis, founder of the Bangladeshi micro-loan scheme that helped lift the economic status of hundreds of thousands of people in that world’s poorest nation, particularly women; and of course, Nigeria’s Adamawa State Governor, Vice Admiral Murtala Hamman-Yero Nyako.

In this era of politics, it has become the pastime of politicians to dismiss all that Governor Nyako has accomplished since 2007 when he became governor.

‘He has achieved nothing,’ some would be quick to say, just to condemn and give him a negative label.

Politics aside, there is no disputing the fact that Governor Murtala Nyako has since coming to office, changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, most especially the under privileged. Available statistics in 2007 when he took over the reign showed that Adamawa was the second poorest State in the Nigerian federation. The decaying infrastructure was so overwhelming that some indigenes started migrating to neighboring states.

Basic amenities and other necessities of life like pipe-borne water, hospital drugs and decent classrooms for pupils to sit in and take lessons became a mirage to the masses of the people. In short, everything that was run as a public utility or entity, including governance had completely collapsed. And so he put it as a matter of priority to as much and as early as possible, remedy the situation.

That, he did, with supersonic alacrity that took everyone by surprise; for the first time in almost a decade, residents of Yola the state capital have seen water flowing in their corroded tabs. Governor Nyako, sunk in nearly N2 billion in just three months for the rehabilitation of the Jimeta and Yola WaterWorks, replacing of old pipes and the sinking of industrial capacity boreholes and overhead tanks in some areas of the metropolis to boost supply.

Within the last three years that he has been in office, he was able to rehabilitate and construct new roads covering hundreds of kilometers in both urban and rural settings of the state; two new bridges were built along the Yola – Fufore road, which happens to be a trans-border road between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon. Over 3000 classrooms for both primary and junior Secondary Schools were constructed, while a similar number have been renovated. About 4600 UBE teachers were also employed during this period. With that development, pupils’ enrolment has increased, drop-out cases were eliminated and WAEC and JAMB results have considerably improved to the extent that Adamawa State was adjudged by the Universal Basic Education Commission, Abuja, as the best UBE programme implementer for the year 2008; while the state awaits similar accolades for the 2009 year which is currently being assessed.

On the health sector, two new General and a dozen Cottage Hospitals were built, pregnant women and children under the age of five get free drugs and medical care, while an international German standard diagnostic center is being built at the Specialist Hospital, Yola, and is being expected to be commissioned by February, 2011.

All these achievements enumerated are just, but a preamble to the mega success that Governor Nyako has achieved in governance, because his greatest feat lies in his new concept of socio-economic programme that he introduced in the 2008 new year budget tagged: “Grassroots Empowerment Scheme,” aimed at fighting poverty through farming and trades skills acquisition for self empowerment.

First, as a practicing farmer, the governor believes that with the bountiful arable land and the significant bodies of water available in the state, the teeming unemployed youths would benefit tremendously, if they could be introduced to modern farming techniques. To that effect, he established 21 farming Skills Acquisition Centers, one in each of the 21 Local Government Areas of the State, where participants are taught new and improved methods in crop, vegetable and fruit farming; fish and poultry faming; cattle breeding and the best ways and means of processing and storage of produce.

Some of these centres have since been producing new farmers from the pool of youths who were hitherto a menace to the society as they idled their time in most unimaginative ways. A second category of these youths are enrolled in the three Vocational Technical Training Centers (VTTC) that have been established under the administration’s Grassroots Empowerment Programme aimed at producing technicians who would maintain automobiles, agricultural machineries and home appliances.

The one year course which commenced in 2008, gives students the opportunity to specialize in areas of mechanical, electrical and electronic basic maintenance. The Centers which admit 210 students each annually, are located in Mubi, Yola and Mayobelwa, covering the three Senatorial Zones.  Two new Centers in Numan and Gombi are expected to take-off in January, 2011.

The Grassroots Empowerment Programme is so successful that a number of states have since copied Governor Nyako’s initiative to rid his state of the menace of poverty and its attendant vices. I have read some newspaper articles applauding the scheme, with some even recommending for the Federal Government to imbibe it as a national scheme.

Governor Nyako has however, had much more aces in his sleeves to develop Adamawa State. These farmers and technicians whom the training Centers are producing would not make much headway in their businesses without the availability of sufficient power supply. Neither would the much needed foreign investors come, because, one, it is too costly to run industries by diesel or gas powered generators; and two, the cost of transportation of raw materials, products and finished goods to and from either Calabar or Lagos ports by road is expensive and risky, considering the distance and the level of decay of the roads.

Just last week, a Spanish company with expertise in hydro-electricity projects has put forward a proposal for the consideration of the state Government.

Talks have also reached an advanced stage on the Governor’s initiative to have a railway line run from Yola to Maiduguri and from Yola to Calabar. Governor Nyako has been trying to convince his colleagues in Borno, Taraba, Benue and Cross-River for joint sponsorship of the project with foreign investors, because according to him, “rail transportation is the cheapest, safest and most efficient;” and above all, a wise investment for the participating governments.

Iyawa wrote from Damare Ward, Yola