Lessons from MA Abubakar’s politics without bitterness

Growing up in the ancient north-eastern town of Sade, one of the major things I have learnt from my late grandfather is to always trust my intuition. And so, when the opposition, incidentally all of them members of the APC at the time, were doing everything possible to derail Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar from the […]

Growing up in the ancient north-eastern town of Sade, one of the major things I have learnt from my late grandfather is to always trust my intuition. And so, when the opposition, incidentally all of them members of the APC at the time, were doing everything possible to derail Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar from the course of credible governance, I did not allow myself the luxury of believing an inch of the falsehood they were consistently peddling. That was long before my appointment to this office.

Many writers and countless people of goodwill have had cause to warn those Abuja politicians to remember that whenever there was any disagreement, reconciliation was the right course to take, as it is the way of God, as clearly enunciated in our Holy Books.

In Africa where most of us sprouted from, there is the common saying that united we stand, divided we fall. It is obviously with this in mind that the Bauchi Governor decided to do everything to ensure peace and reconciliation between him on one hand, and a few members of the National Assembly fiercely opposed to him, on the other.

Though vengeance is only of God’s, those fighting the Governor, actually for personal aggrandizement, defiantly refused to allow any voice of reason to prevail. And their strategy was simple: by deliberately and consistently entangling the Governor, they had hoped to make him lose focus and thereby incur the wrath of the people.

But Governor Abubakar disappointed them by becoming even more focused. He once told an audience that having accomplished a lot in his life, he wouldn’t have vied for the high office of governor if he knew he was not capable of sacrificing his today to ensure a glorious tomorrow for Bauchi people.

So, at the time these opponents were busy digging deeper in their trenches, Governor Abubakar was getting even more determined to stay on the side of his people. It was this decision that saw him removing Bauchi from the list of states owing its workers salaries, and though the state was (and still is) on the lower rung among beneficiaries of statutory allocation of funds from the Federation Account,  the Governor did his best in providing critical infrastructure, not only in metropolitan Bauchi, but also all over the state.

Governor Abubakar’s objective is clearly to remove as many Bauchi people as possible, from poverty. That decision must have informed why he paid a particular attention to agriculture, education, etc.

Agriculture, particularly, is the highest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state as well as a means of job and wealth creation for the teeming population because of the employment opportunities it provides to the people.

It is in realisation of this that one of the first assignments of the administration after assuming office was the launching of the 2015 farming season in my hometown, Misau, followed by the disbursement of 10,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer to farmers at subsidised rate of N2,750.00 for NPK and N3,000.00 for Urea.

Other achievements of the administration in the agricultural sector, include partnership with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in the improvement of food security of about 2, 000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state through the provision of 60 metric tonnes of assorted (improved) crop seeds; distribution of artisanal fisheries inputs (nets, floats, sinkers, ropes etc) to about 200 fishermen under the GESS Project, while in the year 2016 farming season, 20 metric tonnes of fertilizer, equivalent to 666 trucks were procured and distributed in over 40 different locations in the 20 LGAs of the state.

The Abubakar Administration also keyed into the federal government’s agricultural financing programmes, especially the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme,  working to make it easy for farmers to access funds from commercial banks to work on rice and sorghum production for rain, rice and wheat for dry season production. It also targets at least 100,000 rice and maize farmers in the 2017 planting season.

The Bauchi State government met contacts with commodity companies in China and Lebanon, who have indicated interest in investments in sesame, soybeans and groundnuts, while others showed interest in establishing agro-processing industries.

During his visit to the Czech Republic to prospect for investments, Abubakar identified eight models of small and medium capacity tractors that can be affordable to farmers, which seek to reduce time and labour the farmers spend on land preparation, planting, weed control and harvesting. Efforts are being concluded to procure the tractors for farmers, and they are at the verge of being delivered.

Again, in order to mechanize farming in the state, plans are being made to procure some combined harvesters to be sold to farmers with heavy subsidy. Similarly, to encourage necessary change in livestock farming, the present administration in the state is making efforts to encourage ranching, breeding, beef and dairy productions as well poultry and fish production. To that effect, the administration is collaborating with China Research Institute on the development of our pastures and fodder for livestock, especially on grass species specially developed, which yields 500 metric tonnes of fodder per hectare in one growing season to be made available to livestock farmers.

Apart from the terrible mess he met on ground, recession was taking a harder bite on the economy at the time he took over as governor. The state also has the highest number of civil servants in the country, with a substantial number of them being ghost workers. And what is more: the treasury of the state was emptied. A leader that is not focused, or one that does not possess an iron-cast will to make a positive difference in the lives of his people, will simply have given up or resorted to appropriating to himself the meagre resources of the state.

Today, Bauchi is about the only state in Nigeria that hardly wastes resources in renting hotels in Abuja. The governor made the big sacrifice of bequeathing the official Governor’s Lodge in Abuja to officials on his convoy, including drivers and security personnel. He would work in Asokoro and drive to his personal residence in faraway Gwarinpa. To the best of my knowledge, no other governor in Nigeria does this. Though they occupy the official lodges in Abuja, many governors still deploy massive resources of their state to staying in five star hotels.

But even with the frugal lifestyle of Governor Abubakar that saw the state making substantial savings, Bauchi still lacks adequate resources for the kind of development he envisages. Most of the resources are till deployed to payment of salaries, pension and gratuities.

Though owing to paucity of funds it is in some cases still a work in progress, the achievements of Governor Abubakar touch every sector of development which will only be brought to fore some other day.

It is hoped that the forces of darkness will now realize that in politics, there should be no permanent enemy; that in human relations, reconciliation is the best way out, and in life, more so as a leader, the people are your best assets.

From Bauchi, we have also seen that propaganda has its limit. The opposition has continued to engage in a dangerous propaganda to pull down the governor, forgetting that the people of Bauchi are some of the most sophisticated in the country, and that only a few of them could be fooled or taken for a ride. It is for these reasons that the antics of the opposition have since turned to a huge blessing for Governor Abubakar. It has earned him consistent sympathy of his people, who know him as a man of peace and development.

Failure to discern these simple, though very critical lessons of life often leads to regret. And it is for this very reason these political enemies could only continue to bark, while alienating themselves from the people and losing every bit of relevance.

 

Sade is the Commissioner of Information, Bauchi State