Babagana Ari
8 July 2008
opinion
While every other state in Nigeria is busy bringing development to its people or trying to do that, Yobe, a poor and underdeveloped state is still confronted by so many distractions that will and have indeed, made progress difficult.
These distractions come in many forms. There is the legal tussle that is still going on with Senator Usman Albishir moving from one court to another seeking to become governor.
As at the last count, Albishir had challenged the election of Senator Mamman Ali in the form of nine legal battles that the former lost. And he is still in court. No other state is facing such kind of distraction in Nigeria today. Then, there was the challenge of opposition from the PDP. Its governorship candidate, Adamu Maina Waziri, was also in court challenging the election of Gov. Mamman Ali. After he lost, one would have expected him to, like a good sportsman, cooperate in developing the state or even offer meaningful opposition.
There is also the challenge of moving away from the status quo. This can best be understood by looking at where Yobe State was from 1999 to 2007. In these years, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, one of the best politicians in the state, ran a government that was incapacitated to execute any meaningful development. Civil servants took advantage of the lack of focus of that government to blow too high, the monthly wage bill of the poor state. In some cases, a single civil servant had dozens of ghost workers whose pay every month went into his pocket. The case of ghost workers was so rampant that even a whole secondary school was discovered to have been in existence ONLY on the wage bill.
The status quo was also involved, giving people handouts of money. This created a culture of begging, as 'yan maula ran around government offices begging. Some unemployed men and women trooped into Damaturu to seek such undignified favours everyday of the week. This weakened the capacity of the government to carry out development projects. A state like Yobe should not have been involved in the backward politics of tribalism, but as the politicians and selfish elders wished, everything about the state is punctuated by tribalism. Some tribes considered leadership and power in the state as their own exclusive preserve even though they claim belief in God Who gives power to whosoever He wishes.
The environment is another factor. As a desert state, Yobe is faced by the encroachment of desert, which destroys the environment and makes subsistence agriculture difficult or fruitless. This is a problem that makes even water difficult to access. With the world giving keen attention to climate change and the present Yobe State government introducing new and more effective approaches to fighting desert encroachment, one would expect the good indigenes of the state to use their influence to help the people and the state government to address these problems.
Potiskum is the biggest urban area in Yobe State that has over the years, failed to live up to its status as a cosmopolitan society. Potiskum is the only town in Yobe State that has formed the habit of stoning every important personality visiting or passing by. Who's breeding the thugs that are carrying out all these kind of despicable acts? Whose interest are they protecting by using violence to express themselves?
With the transition that saw the emergence of Senator Mamman Ali as governor, there was a sigh of relief with the break from the past. Alhough Mamman Ali is doing his best to change the fortunes of the state, those benefitting from the status quo will not let go. They've formed themselves into an opposition within the ANPP and outside it, fighting vehemently every move to take the state out of the woods.
There are also tribal jingoists who believe that only they can rule the state, even though they are yet to prove that they have a state-wide electoral value. Those who cannot live without government patronage and place priority on getting selfish benefits from it will not stand for a government that is and has been committed to instilling probity and due process in government business. The present government may have its own problems, but the issue is: for how long can our dear state and its people remain backward? Why will some people insist that they have to be in the government house or in total control of it?
The government of Mamman Ali should be supported by all well-meaning indigenes of Yobe State, meaningful opposition will help. Those who hate the present state government for their own reasons should wait for the next round of elections to prove their point, if at all they believe in democracy. It was in recognition of the good intentions of the present government in the state that prominent sons of the state in the academia and the private sector held the first Yobe State economic and Social Development Summit.
Elders of the state hibernating in Abuja and Kaduna should remember their responsibilities and carry them out head-on. They should come together and tell the Minister of State for Agriculture, Adamu Maina Waziri, to use his good office to help farmers in Yobe State. They should also tell Senator Usman Albishir to prove that by seeking a public office, he means well for the state and by initiating ways he can help to move the state forward.
He can do that by setting up a scholarship scheme for the indigent youths of Nguru. With his vast wealth, he can start a community school in his hometown or put in place a medical assistance foundation. The government of Mamman Ali has started good projects in the areas of agriculture, housing and healthcare. The three new specialist hospitals being built in Potiskum, Damaturu and Gashua are a good development, given the growing population and ever-increasing demand for quality healthcare.
The launch of the Yobe Youth Empowerment Farm Project (YYEFP) will help a lot in ensuring gainful employment for youths in the state. About 5,000 unemployed youths are expected to benefit from the first phase of the project sited in Damaturu Local Government Area while other local governments will benefit subsequently.
The people of Yobe State should not allow selfish politicians to continue to draw the state backwards in the name of politics and desperate struggle to clinch power. The year-long distractions facing the state government will not benefit anyone, except greedy politicians who care only about the profits they will gain from whatever they do.
Ari lives in Damaturu.
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