Adamu Musa Kumo
12 July 2008
opinion
Sometimes in the late 90s, elder statesman, Malam Yahaya Gusau, said at a reception organized in honour of some prominent natives of Zazzau Emirate in Zaria that positions of authority or leadership are meant to yield some dividends to the people and not to serve as opportunities for the leaders to merely satisfy their needs. He, therefore, frowned at the despicable attitudes of self-enrichment and nonchalance towards public interests as beÂing exhibited by some people saddled with the responsibility of providing governance.
Evidently, Malam Gusau's remarks on the occasion compelled most people to reflect on the quality of service delivery by public officers at different levels in the country. The result of the people's reflection seemed to indicate a heightened dissatisfaction with the performance of most public servants and leaders.
The restoration of democracy in 1999 has now made such a reflection and, in fact, assessment of the performance of especially elected leaders a most compelling necesÂsity. It is even the realization of the need to keep surveillance over our leaders with a view to identifying their contributions to the development of the society that made some governance specialists to invent the cliche-dividends of democracy.
In other words, the genuine demands of the people for a development-oriented apÂproadi to governance are now being more effectively put across through the wideÂspread advocacy for the delivery of diviÂdends of democracy by the elected leaders at different levels. As a result of the advoÂcacy, tremendous consciousness on the desirability of effective commitment to the enhancement of people's welfare by the leaders has now been created in the same way that the recognition of the efforts of the governments in this direction has now been part of the overall assessment procÂess.
Happily, the elected leaders are not unaÂware of the rising curiosity among NigeriÂans to know every detail about their perÂformance. This, therefore, makes some of them to always try to satisfy the yearnings of the people.
It now clearly appears that the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Danjurna Goje, is fully conversant with the existing fashion which is quite indicative of the treÂmendous public desire for selfless service and the penchant for assessment. The govÂernor, who is just one year into his second term in office having been elected in 2003, has so far executed numerous projects whose relevance to the socio-economic well being of the people is uncontestable.
Consequently, the governor has gained for himself substantial recÂognition within and beÂyond the state as evident in the high number of awards he has received from institutions and organizations. The manner in which institutions, inÂcluding universities fall over themselves to extend recognition to the governor, shows that even the most critical segments of the Nigeria's population are aware and appreciative of the efforts of the governor towards both physiÂcal and human development in the state.
The last of the awards he received came from the famous Africa Independent TelÂevision (A IT) in collaboration with a nonÂgovernmental organization, Project For ExÂcellence (PFE) at the Annual Gold Medal Awards for Excellence and Good Governance in the north they organized in Kaduna on Sunday June 15. The organizers of the even identified Goje as the best performing among all the second term governors in the north.
It was the verdict of the organizers of the award-giving ceremony that the achievements of the goverÂnor in the arÂeas of water supply, road construction and educaÂtion remain quite unsurÂpassed. By this decision, it is very clear that the AIT and PFE are making referÂence to the execution of multi-billion water supply scheme, conÂstruction of roads within Gombe town and in major towns in the state as well as the estabÂlishment of state univerÂsity among other projects and programmes carried out or still being carried out in the various sectors.
This particular verdict clearly concurs with the opinion of most people of the state. Back home, the people in the state are commending the governor for the exÂecution of water supply scheme which has substantially met the water requirement of the people in the same way they are appreciative of his efforts at providing effective road network within the state capital and construction of other roads in each of the state capital and construction of other roads to each of the eleven local government areas in the state.
It is on record that the Goje administration has been able to provide about 47 ring roads within Gombe town and also dualized Tumfure - Liji road. The execution of these projects has not only beautified the state capital and other towns, but has also eased up transportation in the state thereby bringing about speedy economic development.
Another effort of the governor in the vital area of education is not only the establishment of state university, but also the effective staffing of the institution especially with the appointment of the former vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and seasoned university administrator, Professor Abdullahi Mahdi, as its vice chancellor. As a result of all these giant strides, the university is now rated as one of the best and fastest-growing among state universities in the north.
Certainly, most Nigerians would vividly recall that shortly earlier than the time the governor received AIT/PFE award, he was a recipient of honourary doctorate degree from the prestigious Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi for his contribution to the development of education.
The university authorities appeared very much convinced that the governor has recorded unparalleled achievements in the area of education for which he deserves such a huge recognition.
Even the ATBU honorary degree is only an addition to a similar one given to the governor durÂing his first term by the Federal University of Technology, Yola. It can, therefore, be said that the governor has been an achiever and therefore a recipient of various awards since he became the governor of Gombe State five years ago.
All these award givers are, by their reÂspective actions, only confirming the beÂlief of the people in the state and beÂyond. Any keen observer of developments in the state will testify to the fact that the governor has already unfolded a five-year education development plan under which he has, in addition to the projects already mentioned above, established and fully equipped thirteen vocaÂtional colleges and provided well-furnished six classÂrooms in each of the twenty selected schools across the state. This means that the approach of the current adÂministration in the state to the issue of educational deÂvelopment is both compreÂhensive and result-yielding.
Goje's other laudable iniÂtiatives include the conÂstruction of Gombe InternaÂtional Airport which is curÂrently at about 95 per cent completion stage and the elevation of General HospiÂtal in the state capital to a specialist status. He also reconstructed some lower hospitals and renovated the others in different parts of the state.
As mainly agrarian state and in its bid to ensure that Gombe State retains its enÂviable position as one of the major producers of food in the north in particular and the country in general, the administration has proÂcured abundant fertilizer at the cost of 5,000 Naira per bag and subsidized the cost to 1,600 Naira for the ordinary farmers. In order to ensure that the commodity is widely distributed, the governor warned strongly against the diversion of the commodity and even vowed to deal with any government official(s) who may attempt to indulge in any dirty deals in the distribution of the fertilizer.
What has been mentioned so far, as far as the activities of the present state governor are concerned, is only a tip of the iceberg. The achievements of Governor Goje will always become even much clearer when analyzed in the context of the terrible state of under-development in which the state found itself prior to 2003.
The last five years have not only been truly golden to the people of Gombe State, but have also provided the governor with the opportunity to prove to the world that he possesses the wherewithal to always be million miles ahead' of his peers. It is this distinguishing feature of the man that all these institutions and organizations figured out early in the day on the basis of which they have now crowned him as the first among equals.
Kumo is Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to Gombe State Governor.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
