Open Letter to His Excellency Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya,
Your Excellency,
Today is International Youth Day, and I have chosen to put this on record. I will go straight to the point and keep it as concise as possible.
Your administration has done, and is still doing, commendably well in terms of infrastructure, land policies, and primary health care. There is a general consensus among the apolitical class about your performance in these areas. The few grievances that exist mostly revolve around the limited circle of contractors engaged by your administration, with little effort to spread opportunities more widely. Personally, I do not have much concern with that.
A Call for Balanced Governance
Just as there is a broad consensus about your performance in infrastructure, there is also agreement that your administration has underperformed in human capital development compared to your predecessors. I believe that if you recalibrate your focus, there is still an opportunity to change this narrative.
Under your watch, Gombe State has experienced a rapid rise in two troubling areas: insecurity and drug circulation, most of it involving young people. In the past six years, there has been virtually no program aimed at significantly improving the per capita income of our people. Your priorities have remained: infrastructure, infrastructure, and more infrastructure. While this is important, it is not sufficient, and it has contributed to rising insecurity and youth restiveness.
On the issue of drugs, reports indicate that Gombe is either the number one or number two state in the entire Northern region in terms of hard drug distribution. I urge you to work closely with the NDLEA under Buba Marwa to clamp down on those spreading this menace. You can start by seizing the Certificates of Occupancy for buildings acquired through such illicit trade, initiating relevant acts through our legislators, and securing strong legislative backing. If we continue to allow this hard drug crisis to fester, the very Gombe where we have acquired plots and properties will one day be decimated by the same youths who consume these substances. You must act decisively on this.
Almost all empowerment initiatives in the state are either federal government-owned, World Bank counterpart-funded projects with a small empowerment component, or donor development programs that are too limited to make a meaningful impact given our population.
Empowerment programs do not necessarily mean sharing money with politicians. They mean creating valuable, well-structured initiatives that genuinely impact the people in sustainable phases, programs that equip citizens with skills, resources, and opportunities to improve their livelihoods. You need to do something big to change the narrative of negligence in this aspect.
Your Excellency, you are fortunate to have capable minds among your immediate lieutenants who manage many of the internal challenges within your administration. However, the perception that you have failed or refused to initiate and execute a tangible empowerment program solely owned by the Gombe State Government is being discussed, even among your appointees. For the sake of your legacy, this must change.
You have about 21 months left in office. Unlike large infrastructure projects that require years to complete, empowerment programs can be executed within the shortest possible time.
You need to focus on the human aspect of development to complement your existing legacies. Task your team to design initiatives that will inject funds directly into the local economy. For example
• Support 5,000 registered SMEs in the state with grants or loans of ₦1 million each, disbursed through Bubayero Microfinance Bank, with a reasonable moratorium period.
• Create programs to train and empower 5,000 women and 5,000 youths, investing a total of ₦15–₦20 billion over the next 20 months.
• Develop similar targeted initiatives that will directly support your people, Gombawa, without the interference of middlemen or contractors looking to cash out.
• Look into training our LEA teachers, many of whom have had their promotions delayed or with no implementation for years. Addressing this is also a vital aspect of investing in people and building capacity. Please look into these areas, Your Excellency.
I believe your administration cannot complain about a lack of funds, considering the scale of your ongoing and completed projects, from the Government House rehabilitation project, to the State Assembly complex, State Secretariat, abattoir, international grains market, veterinary hospital, and other legacy projects along the Northern Bypass, amounting to over ₦200 billion. Funding should not be an obstacle.
Your Excellency, while you have nothing to lose by empowering your people, you have everything to gain by alleviating the current hardship through such programs. Millions will pray for you and remember you kindly as you conclude your tenure. Many lives will be directly impacted. Your legacy will reflect not just physical development, but also the courage to invest in people.
Injecting tens of billions to directly uplift citizens should not be a problem for any governor who truly has the people at heart. While you build roads, you must also build the capacity of the people who will use those roads. Infrastructure without poverty alleviation leaves citizens hungry and hopeless.
I choose to write this letter openly for posterity. Beyond private discussions, it should be on record that before it is too late, someone publicly called your attention to this matter, for the sake of your legacy and the well-being of our people.
Yours Abdullahi Auwal (Abdullahi A Abdullahi)
Abuja
12th August, 2025