Kudos to Governor Lalong

Let me start by first congratulating you and President Muhammad Buhari on your successful one year in office. This is my second letter to you since your assumption of office as Governor of Plateau State; the first letter was on Monday, September 7, 2015 which was published in the NIGERIAN PILOT. The article focused fundamentally […]

Let me start by first congratulating you and President Muhammad Buhari on your successful one year in office. This is my second letter to you since your assumption of office as Governor of Plateau State; the first letter was on Monday, September 7, 2015 which was published in the NIGERIAN PILOT. The article focused fundamentally on two issues, sponsorship of pilgrimage for the two major religious, Christianity and Islam, and the operating of the Single Treasure Account (TSA).
I was meant to understand that as part of the democracy celebration in Plateau State last week, you’ve banned the sponsorship of pilgrimage. This is a good development, and you’re on the right track. I say kudos to you. After all, Christianity and Islam are not the only religions in existence. Other world religions, such as Budda’ism, Juda’ism, Shinto’ism, Zoroastrian’ism, Rastafarian’ism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha’ism, Jainism and African traditional religion etc, also embarks on pilgrimage. Do we sponsor them? Or don’t we have citizens practicing them? Your decision to stop the sponsorship is a hard pill to swallow by those hangers on who year in, year out benefit from it.
By this action, you’ve demonstrated that you are not only a listening governor, but a personality, who despite your tight schedules takes time to read the news, especially, issues as it affects the state of Plateau, keep it up. As the chief executive of the state, you are at liberty to take any decision/policy that will bring progress and prosperity to the state, without consulting any adviser or political hanger’s on. After all, when President Buhari decided to remove the so-called subsidy on fuel, he didn’t consult anyone or group. Thank God the endless artificial fuel queues have suddenly disappeared. The monies re-covered from the so-called sponsorship of the pilgrimage should be used to fund our primary healthcare, which is in shambles or even nonexistence, and also rehabilitate and furnish our public school across the state. Remember, you and I are beneficiaries of public schools, and you will agree with me that some of these schools are nothing but a playing/noise making environment, not conducive for human beings, not to talk of learning.
Your Excellency, in my letter inter-alia, I raised the issue of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) implementation, it may interest you to note that the Federal Government has saved over 4 trillion naira in the last six months or so of the implementation. Your colleagues in other states, such as Kaduna, Anambra, Cross River and Lagos, who took the bull by the horn, by implementing the scheme, have also saved a lot of monies which have been channeled to other development programme/projects. You will agree with me that Plateau has been left behind in terms of development, as a result of bad governance/protracted sectarian crises.
The task of building the Plateau of our dream is a collective one, therefore, we must strive to get it right now and correct the mistake of the past. U.S.

Ladan (Snr), Jos, Plateau State.