Abubakar S. Saidu Al-Sadique
3 October 2008
opinion
"The true measure of a man is determined, not by what he does in time of comfort and convenience, but by what he does in time of conflict and war".
-Late Reverend Martin Luther King.
The above quotation aptly and correctly captures the state of the Yuguda administration that is currently superintending the affairs of Bauchi State through the historic A-Kasa-A-Tsare revolution that brought the government into office in April 2007. The April 2007 Gubernatorial election in Bauchi state could be seen as a turning point that ushered in a new era to begin to address the bad socio-economic situation in the state after over two decades of neglect of the infrastructure put in place in the second republic by the then Abubakar Tatari Ali administration. The Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda, on assumption of office to date, could be said to have demonstrated enough commitment to show the people who stuck out their necks to vote for him into power, that he will not let them down.
Already, a lot could be seen to have been done in the education sector, for students, teachers and infrastructural provisions with a sizeable number of students currently receiving training abroad in critical specialized fields; complete overhauling of the health sector, with free medical treatment for women and children and provision of state of the art equipment in government hospitals, revitalization of the civil service as workers now earn better living pay package eliciting commensurate productivity from them while the Government seem poised to do more.
In the area of human development, the Government did not waste time in mobilizing the army of idle youth who have earned the state a notoriously bad name before now through the ignoble display of gangsterism, commonly known as the sara-Suka syndrome, to be on the path that will enable them lead meaningful livelihood.
Some of the irate youth recruited and armed by the former administration have now been employed, some have gone back to school, while some are undergoing skills acquisition trainings, yet some have ended up in agriculture, the mainstay of the nation's economy, particularly in northern Nigeria where Bauchi state falls. With this the Sara-Suka phenomenon does not exist again.
For an administration that is just over year old in office to be tackling the aforementioned areas, plus its exploits to forestall future occurrences of any semblance of conflicts with political undertones, such a government must be serious minded enough to address issues that pose danger to peaceful co-existence among the various people of the state and return harmony and tranquility to the disappointment of the sponsors of the conflicts.
It was not surprising that the new administration accorded agriculture the recognition it deserves, after a very long slumber to launch the state on the path of true socio-economic recovery and at the moment this is what the Isa Yuguda-led administration is very much into. The agricultural sector under this dispensation of leadership appears to be receiving the attention which is identified as the cornerstone of the state's economy. In this age of mechanized farming in this part of the world where the majority people are found in the farming occupation, lack of access to fertilizer, pesticides, new improved seedlings, tractor hiring and other farming implements render the occupation to be in its crude form, with its attendant poor yields both for subsistence and cash purposes.
Aware of this state of affairs, the Isa Yuguda administration has taken a holistic approach to galvanize the agricultural sector on the path of growth by vesting the state's agriculture and natural resources ministry with the responsibilities of increasing crop production for both domestic and commercial purposes, promoting efficient and effective agricultural mechanization, procurement and delivery of farm inputs at affordable prices for sustainable agricultural production, provision of extension services in order to deliver new and sustainable technology to farmers, promoting quality control and preservation of agricultural produce and management of personnel and manpower development for the achievement of the set goals in the agricultural sector, among others.
In 2007, just a month after coming into office, Bauchi State Government made frantic efforts to meet the farmers' fertilizer needs and procured about 30,000 metric tones of assorted fertilizer worth over N2 billion. In the year 2008 rainy season the government ordered for 44,200 metric tones of fertilizer from both the federal government and direct procurement through contract. So far, a total of 27,439.20 metric tones have been received while the balance of 16,760.80 metric tonnes of the commodity is being awaited at the moment.
The use of organic fertilizer is also being promoted in Bauchi state through the Bauchi State Agricultural Development programme extension system and already some companies that produced the fertilizer have been identified with a view to procuring some quantities for testing and evaluation. The Federal Government through the National Food Reserve Agency has given 60 metric tones of organic fertilizer to be tested at the food security sites in the state. Distribution and sales of fertilizer for 2008 season commenced very early, after official launching of the farming season in Azare, Katagum local government by the executive Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda. A committee charged with that responsibility was constituted which has done a good job in the two farming seasons. It is important to note that over 70% of the fertilizer was allocated to the wards and local government areas. Moreover, groups and associations, including those of women, communities residing in the state and even civil servants got allocation of the product. Furthermore, apart from the 25% subsidy given by the Federal Government on fertilizer, the state also gave additional 40% which put the prices of NPK, Urea and SSP at N1,800, N1,600 and N1,500 per bag, respectively, all with a view to assisting farmers to boost food production in the state.
Unlike what obtained in the past, the steps taken by the Malam Isa Yuguda administration has broken through all the barriers of political leanings, god-fatherism, religion, ethnicity, non-indigene syndrome, among others, to give everybody access to fertilizer in the spirit of his populist regime which from the onset has left no one in doubt as to the fact that it came on board for the well being of all in the state, especially the downtrodden. This has rekindled hope in the professional farmers while the number of non-professional ones has swelled, making farming a must to people in the rural and urban areas.
Improved seeds of food and cash crops have been made available through BASAC sales points at different locations within the state. Other sources of improved and subsidized seeds were those received from Federal Government through Maize Farmers Association, Rice Farmers Association, and Sesame Farmers Association, while additional seeds of sorghum and cotton were also received. Similarly, agro-chemicals were made accessible to all farmers in the state through BASAC at relatively subsidized prices plus other sources of good quality seeds and agro-chemicals. Within one year, the Government of Malam Isa Yuguda has committed over a billion Naira in the areas of procurement, and repairs of tractors, construction, renovation and provision of modern tractor hiring unit of the state, provision of animal traction programme, construction and completion of storage facilities, rehabilitation of grazing reserves, cattle routes and grazing reserves development, construction of veterinary clinics as well as veterinary drugs revolving programme.
Other agricultural developments of the Yuguda administration are in the areas of animal livestock vaccination programme, control of agricultural pests, rehabilitation of model farm training centres for the purpose of training young unemployed school leavers in modern farming techniques, renovation of farm service centres and fishery development, as well as provision of agricultural loans to farmers at acceptable terms through the reorganization of agricultural credit unit to collaborate with financial institutions to enable farmers access the loans. The state agricultural statistics coordinating committee is being resuscitated in line with Federal Government agricultural policy decision to enable the Government properly formulate agricultural planning for programme implementation.
Having said this, it needs be emphasized here that the pragmatic steps being taken by the Yuguda administration to revolutionalize the agricultural sector and so impact on the socio-economic lives of people, the cooperation of all in ensuring the success of this vision is paramount. With trust in God, so far thumbs up Malam Isa Yuguda. This is another dividend of the A-Kasa-A-Tsare phenomenon from which the people of Bauchi state are reaping.
Abubakar S. Saidu al-Sadique is Special Assistant, Media to Governor Yuguda.
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