How some out-going governors will be remembered
They are; Theodore Orji of Abia; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi; Gabriel Suswan of Benue; Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta; Martins Elechi of Ebonyi; Sullivan Chime of Enugu; Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Ibrahim Shema of Katsina; Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi; Babatunde Fashola of Lagos; Muazu Babangida Aliyu […]
They are; Theodore Orji of Abia; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi; Gabriel Suswan of Benue; Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta; Martins Elechi of Ebonyi; Sullivan Chime of Enugu; Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Ibrahim Shema of Katsina; Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi; Babatunde Fashola of Lagos; Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger; Jonah Jang of Plateau; Rotimi Amechi of Rivers; and Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto. Except for the governors of Lagos, Rivers and Sokoto states who are leaving office on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC); the other thirteen are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors.
While governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state is vacating seat for losing re-election, Bala Ngilari and Garba Umar respectively served varying periods in office to complete the two consecutive terms started by Murtala Nyako of Adamawa (impeached on July 15, 2015) and Danbaba Suntai of Taraba (who suffered injuries from a plane crash on October 25, 2012).
Two moments are conventionally special in every human activity; the beginning and its end. The termination of every worthwhile exercise should naturally provoke emotional feelings. Unfortunately, the same factor of non-performance that made PDP to mournfully lose in the 2015 elections will equally deny most of these governors the privilege of leaving office honourably. Except for their close aides, many Nigerians are happy to witness their exit from office. Of course, what is there that is emotive for Nigerians in the departure of public officers who in the past eight years have become huge political burdens and incalculable economic liabilities? Rabiu Kwankwaso and Babatunde Fashola are the two governors that, in my conservative opinion, will be missed most by their respective states. The best compliment other governors may get from their people may not be more than ‘sauka lafiya’ (Hausa expression for ‘Goodbye’).
Babatunde Fashola will, for example, be missed by Lagosians for sustaining the payment of WAEC fees for SS3 students in all public schools; implementing the Teachers Salary Scale (TSS); providing jobs for the once notorious area-boys and taking them off the streets of Lagos; enforcing the ban on indiscriminate use of siren; insisting on the use of pedestrian bridges; improving intra-city transportation through the introduction of BRT buses; and decongesting the hitherto all-day-busy areas of Lagos including Oshodi.
Kano people will miss Governor Kwankwaso for the installation of Malam Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano; the establishment of a world-class Northwest university; granting postgraduate scholarships to over 2,000 who had a minimum of second class degree (upper division) in their first degrees to study abroad; sponsoring one hundred youths to train as pilots; construction of flyovers at Kofar Nasarawa, Ibrahim Taiwo road, and on Murtala Mohammed way; Kabuga and Gadon-Kaya underpass projects; three model cities including Kwankwasiyyah; and the construction of 35mw Tiga and Challawa hydro plants that are nearing completion.
Sule Lamido would be remembered for building the Dutse Airport. He will also be ‘missed’ for naming the state university after himself as well as for betraying his colleagues with whom he started the G-7 movement. Like Lamido, Ibrahim Shema will be remembered in Katsina for naming the Katsina orthopedic hospital as well as the ICT and business institute all after himself. He would likewise be remembered for not forgetting his wife, Fatima Shema, in the naming spree by naming an estate built with public funds after her. If these governors were Sir Ahmadu Bello, the premier of northern Nigeria, they would have probably named Bank of the North or the New Nigerian newspaper after their family members.
While Isa Yuguda like Aliyu Wamakko would both be remembered for not naming the state universities they built after themselves, Akpabio will be remembered for approving a ‘handsome’ severance package for himself. Bauchi people may however have reservations about Yuguda’s debt stock of $87million.
Beside a legacy of $36 billion debt burden, the governor of Niger state, my home state, would be remembered for leaving many projects some of which did not go beyond drawing board unfinished. They include 10km road in each of the 25 LGAs of the state; NYSC permanent orientation camp; N4.6billion Minna shopping mall; Niger-American medical city; Minna modern stadium; Minna cargo airport; Baro petroleum refinery; African village (beside Zuma rock); 3-Arms zone project (over which he took offence with the Daily Trust reporter in Minna for using old picture in a story); Shehu Musa housing estate in Bida; and Sani Bello housing estate in Kontagora.
Nigerlites would also remember Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu for withdrawing from the G-7 he pioneered. While LG workers including LEA teachers would remember him for the alleged ‘missing’ of their 7.5 percent pension contributions, senior civil servants will continue to remember him for setting a track record of increasing the number of permanent secretaries from the twenty-one it used to be under governor Abdulkadir Kure to fifty-three! He will surely be remembered for not enforcing the state liquor law that banned public sale of alcohol.
Benue workers, like their counterparts in Plateau state, will remember their governors for scandalously owing them unpaid salaries for several months. Rotimi Amaechi would be remembered in Rivers for his thick skin against persecutions orchestrated by the PDP. May Allah (SWT) guide us, leaders and followers alike, against becoming puppets to the evil machinations of the sneaking whisper, amin.