Fidelis Mac-Leva
13 March 2008
opinion
Jalingo — On assuming office, Governor Danbaba Suntai declared zero tolerance on corruption but ten months afterwards, a different ball game seems to be playing out in the running of the state.
Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State has always professed his penchant for hard work right from the outset of his administration. On the other hand, he has never hidden his abhorrence for laziness and Suntai seizes every opportunity to sermonise on the virtues of hard work and to denounce truancy.
King Solomon's wise sayings as contained in the Biblical book of proverbs 6:3-9 is his favourite theme. It reads: Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, Governor or ruler to make them work they labour hard all summer gathering food for the winter. But you lazybones how long will you sleep.
Prior to his assumption of office, indolence among the people of Taraba was alarming. Government House Jalingo, the state's seat of power, used to be a beehive of professional idlers, political jobbers and praise singers who swarmed the place on a daily basis, in search of what they regarded as their own share of the national cake. And they found an easy prey in Reverend Jolly Nyame, former governor of the state, who was described as Father Christmas in his management of state resources. Indeed during Nyame's, tenure praise singing and political thuggery was elevated to an art in Taraba state, just as alleged corruption characterized his administration.
But all that seemed to have changed with the emergence of Governor Suntai. Although he had promised to carry on with the so called legacies of his predecessor, but on assumpting office Suntai vowed to do away with the legacy of idleness and by extension, mismanagement of public funds. To demonstrate his seriousness in this regard, Suntai shut the gates of Government House Jalingo against political jobbers and thugs who constituted both a menace and nuisance in the Nyame era.
On various occasions, Suntai repeatedly made it clear to the people of Taraba that the days when the swarm of vengeful locusts traversed the land and milked the state's scarce resources dry were over. While inaugurating members of his executive cabinet last year, the governor told them emphatically that "anyone of you who is not prepared to work in accordance with the cardinal principles and objectives of my administration would be shown the way out". To underscore his seriousness, six of his cabinet members, including the then SSG, who came late during his maiden executive council meeting at the Government House, were barred from attendance. Again, while swearing in new council chairmen, Suntai read the riot act to them. "Anyone of you who mismanages public funds at his disposal will not find it easy with me", he warned. He particularly frowned at the attitude whereby people troop to the local government secretariats in search of financial assistance from the council chairmen in order to marry additional wives.
Similarly, while presenting a cheque of N5 million as the state's counterpart contribution to the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) in Jalingo recently, the governor warned against indolence in his administration. He attributed the high rate of poverty in Taraba State to the nonchalant attitude of the people who, according to him, are not ready to work.
But perhaps politically motivated preachments have a way of parting from deeds. It is against this premise that certain developments, following the full take off of the government, have raised serious concerns in the minds of critics concerning the sincerity of the governor's avowed fight against corruption and indolence. Critics are quick to point at some of these events.
For instance, no sooner had the footsteps of those who came to congratulate him over his electoral victory faded away than Suntai jetted out of the country on his maiden foreign trip. The visit which took him to Egypt was said to have been undertaken to accomplish a controversial deal which was started by his predecessor. Subsequently, Suntai returned to Jalingo with thirty expatriates believed to be medical doctors of Egyptian origin. He told the people of Taraba that the recruits will manage the new ultra modern state Specialist Hospital in the state capital.
The sum of N42.6 million was said to have been spent on the recruitment deal which was initiated by the Nyame government. In addition, another N167 million was released by the Suntai government for the provision of accommodation for the Egyptian doctors. However, a source close to government denied that such large sum was paid for their accommodation but he refused to give any figure. In spite of the protests from critics, particularly the main opposition parties, as to the desirability of their recruitment, the state government went ahead to seal the controversial deal.
If the Egyptian doctors' recruitment attracted vitriolic criticisms from Tarabans, the decision by the state government to purchase exotic vehicles for principal staff as well as other political appointees in the state, attracted no less condemnation. Against the backdrop of his earlier campaign promise of prudent management of resources, critics questioned the propriety of the Suntai government expending huge sums of money to purchase such vehicles.
Those who benefited from the exotic cars bonanza are: High Court Judges, Commissioners, Advisers, Personal aides, Permanent Secretaries, Members of the State House of Assembly as well as chief executives of government agencies and parastatals of the state government. The sum of N462 million was said to have been spent in this regard. This figure was however contradicted by a government official who does not want to be named. Also in display of what analysts have described as a rare political generosity, the state government purchased 18 seater buses and donated to all the opposition parties in the state. The state deputy governor Sani Abubakar Danladi, presided over the committee that handled the project. The keys to the buses were handed over to the opposition party chairmen by the deputy governor with a cash donation of N500, 000.00 each.
Recently, the state government was said to have placed an order for sixteen jeeps to be given to the new council chairmen as their official vehicles. All the benefiting local government chairmen in state belong to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).
Perhaps the case that has attracted more concern from both critics and members of the public in Taraba State was the recent foreign trips bonanza which the governor extended to members of the state House of Assembly. Apparently impressed with their speedy passage of the state's 2008 Appropriation bill and four other executive bills, the governor offered to sponsor the legislators on foreign trips to countries of their choice.
Each of the twenty four lawmakers was to proceed on vacation with his family members to any country of their choice at the expense of the state government. Members of the PDP dominated House were said to have earned the bonanza because they sacrificed their previous recess in order to give accelerated hearing to the Appropriation bill.
Announcing the package while assenting to the 2008 Appropriation bill at Government house, an impressed Suntai told the legislators: "I am indeed very proud of you, I feel a great sense of pride because of your dedication to duty and sacrifice of time and energy to ensure that you give the people of Taraba what they deserve. Surely God and the people will reward you." Suntai said further: "Having sacrificed your recess to pass the 2008 Appropriation bill, you can proceed on vacation. Take your family members along and travel to any country of your choice so that you can rest. And when you come back, supervise the full implementation of the 2008 Appropriation bill which I have signed into law today."
Daily Trust learnt that each of the lawmakers was given the sum of N1.5 million to process travel documents for the trip while another sum of N500, 000 was given to them each to cater for their spouses. By press time most of the lawmakers had travelled to Dubai to spend the holiday with their family members.
But critics have questioned the justification of using state funds to sponsor the lawmakers on vacation to foreign trips as a reward for performing their constitutional duties. "What is so special about passing the Appropriation bill that would warrant such a reward from the governor?" asked a Jalingo- based political analyst who wants to remain anonymous. The Taraba State chapter of Action Congress (AC) also condemned the foreign trips reward to the state lawmakers, describing it as sheer waste of public funds.
Even as critics call to question the transparency of the Suntai administration, the issue of how much the governor inherited from his predecessor remains unanswered. Danjuma Munga, the ousted state chairman of AC, told Daily Trust that "since the current administration came on board, they have never told us categorically how much liability they inherited from the Nyame administration. Do they want to tell us that it is going to be business as usual?" From the look of things, nothing much has changed between when Nyame was at the helm and the present administration.
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