Nigeria’s political profligacy and the sad story of Bauchi State

Governor Isa Yuguda had, in the run-up to the 2011 elections, promised to turn a new leaf if re-elected, following his profligacy with state resources without any meaningful achievements. However, after his controversial victory at the polls, he even went as far as going round the state apologising to the people for failing to deliver […]

Governor Isa Yuguda had, in the run-up to the 2011 elections, promised to turn a new leaf if re-elected, following his profligacy with state resources without any meaningful achievements. However, after his controversial victory at the polls, he even went as far as going round the state apologising to the people for failing to deliver dividends of democracy in his first tenure, saying he was betrayed by his trusted aides who did not share his vision of moving the state forward. He also promised to sack most of them because they have become a cog in the wheel of progress.

However, this recent appointment of a stupendous number of aides, among them hundreds of special assistants and dozens of senior special assistants whose salaries and other perks would cost the Bauchi State treasury more than a billion naira yearly, proves that nothing has changed.

Among the new appointees are 810 special assistants, 94 senior special assistants, 24 directors-general, 20 special advisers, 20 deputy local government chairmen and 20 secretaries for the local government caretaker committees.

The monthly salary of a special adviser is about N400,000 while a senior special assistant takes about N350,000, in addition to other perks of office like official cars and domestic staff. And to think that Bauchi State could afford over a thousand of these while there is a glaring and disturbing absence of common social services like potable water supply and basic health care is a grave source of concern indeed.

This situation is compounded by reports suggesting that the governor has requested for 20 names from each ward in the state for consideration to be appointed as personal assistants to the governor. This means an additional 6,000 aides, which will bring the number of political aides to over 7,000. All this for one state, one governor!

To bring the profligacy into sharp relief, this is coming from a governor who once declared that he could not afford to pay the N18,000 minimum wage to civil servants.

Perhaps if things had stopped at the frivolous appointment of an astounding number of aides, there might still be some hope of something being done in the state. But the governor has gone on to create hundreds of new districts and village heads two months ago as reported by the Daily Trust newspaper of October 6, 2011.

The government will have to shell out over N3 billion for the successful take off of the chiefdoms. Saidu Ibrahim Jahun, the chairman of the 15-member committee set up by the government on the new traditional domains, declared when submitting the report to the government that they would need the sum of N3.34 billion to cover salaries, emoluments and other allowances as well as provision of vehicles, office accommodation and construction of new palaces and guest houses for the 133 districts and 657 village heads in the state.

All this coming from a state that survives almost entirely on federal grants demonstrates the height of political and economic callousness that has characterised our political culture.

Bauchi State could certainly save valuable resources that have already been wasted on the governor’s recent trip to China alongside some close aides to negotiate a loan for the construction of an airport in Bauchi. In truth, Bauchi, as an old state should have had an airport decades ago but since the recently carved out Gombe State has built one, which is less than an hour away and serves the people of Bauchi very well, will it not be wiser to invest these resources in other ventures that would directly impact on the lives of the people?

It is this globetrotting, bowl in hand begging for loans, that has earned the Bauchi State Governor the unenviable tag of the most globetrotting governor in Nigeria in editorials by ThisDay and Daily Trust newspapers. Indeed, Yuguda’s response when quizzed by journalists over his constant travels, that he need not be in Bauchi to govern the state, demonstrates again the insensitivity of some politicians to the pulse of the people they govern.

Bauchi State can certainly be great if the leadership will be sensitive to the peoples’ needs. The spread of development and government projects should be even. A leader should not be seen causing disaffection within the followership. The dichotomy between Bauchi North and South does not augur well for the state.

The two zones have for long shared a history of trust and brotherhood, speak the same language and share the same religious affiliations. When the 1st civilian governor of the state, the late Abubakar Tatari Ali, who is from Bauchi North, ruled the state, there was even distribution of infrastructural developments to the whole zones and Bauchi, being the capital of the state, benefitted more from the administration than any other town. Even former Governor Ahmadu Mu’azu, who hails from Bauchi South, constructed a lot of roads in the North which wooed the people of the zone.

The onus now is on the people of Bauchi State, especially the youths, to hold the government accountable and play an active role in the development of the state. This cannot be done without uniting under the collective interest of the state rather than sections of the state or sacrificing the collective good of all for the little windfall that comes from political appointees.

Prominent sons and daughters of Bauchi State also need to provide a voice of reason that will call public officers to order in the interest of the state. Bauchi State certainly needs it’s patriots at this time.

As John Quincy Adams said, “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.”

As for the governor, we pray to almighty Allah to enable him retrace his steps for the good of Bauchi State. Please bring our state back Mr. Governor!

Dahuwa wrote from Sule Katagum Road, Azare, Bauchi