All political parties’ governorship primary elections have come and gone, leaving a slew of gladiators in the political arena plotting to sway the electorate into their camp to win the general elections.
From the return of democracy after long military rule, Bauchi State first had Adamu Mu’azu, who governed from 1999 to 2007. During that period, there was massive infrastructural development in every nook and cranny of Bauchi State, albeit with little human development. Majority of capital projects were, however, concentrated in the state capital, Bauchi.
When Isa Yuguda took over the reigns of power in 2007 to 2015, he then shifted to human development. Nevertheless, there was some infrastructural development that would stand the test of time like the Bauchi State University, Gadau, and the Abubakar Tafawabalewa International Airport.
Indeed, There appears to be no better time when the good people of Bauchi State found a governor who serves them well than now. Certainly, there is a leadership vacuum in terms of equal opportunities, distribution of meager resources. Not only that, I bet you anything that leadership entails is in comatose.
Nonetheless, there is still time for the current administration to make amends, and it is up to the people to decide their fate on who will takeover the mantle of leadership the incumbent Governor Bala Mohammed.
As the election of 2023 approaches, who is the best candidate for the job?
What’s at stake is the ambiguity surrounding the payment of civil servant salaries. Unfortunately, no one on the state government payroll can be guaranteed that they will not be “deliberately omitted” from the salary voucher at month end.
People have families under their control, and their only source of income is routinely squandered.
For instance, there was a credible report, a certain ministry lodged their complaints to the State Accountant-General, who bluntly told them it was beyond his power to make amends for the simple fact that the number one citizen is the architect of the lingering crisis.
Should we continue this way? It is left for the civil servants to append their signatures if they are comfortable with the recent developments.
We’re not calling for people to vote based on primordial sentiments, but, rather, to look for a competent hand who will never joke with their monthly salaries and the stipends of pensioners who have plopped in their energy for the development of Bauchi State.
It is devastating to observe that pensioners’ rewards is the denial of them their entitlement while the leadership is living flamboyantly with tax payers’ money.
We are poised to change the narrative in Bauchi State. The State is greater than any individual thinking of doing as he so wishes at the detriment of the larger society. Certainly, our people are waiting for the appropriate time to give him a dose of his own medicine.
Recall that the immediate past Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar was unceremoniously voted out of power for the same offence that the current administration is deliberately committing.
We hope that the good people of Bauchi State will resolve to vote for a candidate who will treat the entire state as his constituency, rather than concentrate all of his energy in working for one local government area, as if it were the only one that gave him votes.
Under the current PDP administration, even other sectors such as health and commerce are not receiving the attention they deserve. The internally generated revenue is not substantial, and our industries are left unattended to.
We need a governor who has the wherewithal to address these issues head-on. The ball is in our hands to take us out of the wounds or continue to retrogress deeper.
Tijjani writes from Azare, Bauchi State.
