For anyone who deeply watched how Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressive Congress (APC) emerged at the mantle of leadership in Gombe State in 2019, your greatest expectation would have been that there would be paradigm shift engrossed with accountability, transparency, and political inclusiveness in stirring the affairs of the state to a desirable height. But regrettably, two years down the line, while much has not been achieved, the administration seems to be the most financially reckless in the history of the state.
It is still fresh in our minds that those who have struggled for the actualization of Gombe state in 1996 have great and articulated vision for the state.
Though, the first administrators of the state; Group Captain J.I Orji and Lieutenant Colonel M.I Bawa have done just the little they could in quenching the development thirst of the people of Gombe state, especially the elites in moving the state forward.
The return to democracy in 1999 and the subsequent emergence of late Alhaji Abubakar Hashidu of the All Peoples Party APP, as the first civilian and indigenous governor of the state, breeds strong optimisms for the entire people of the Jewel in the Savannah who firmly believed that the slight performance recorded by the military administrators was due to the fact that they weren’t indigenes of the state, thus lacked passion and commitment, much as there wasn’t much civilian participation in the military rule, but the inherent appetite of those who battled for the creation of the state got its first booster with late Abubakar Hashidu becoming the Governor of the State.
His tenure was shortlived for obvious reasons. But even at that, in the neighboring Bauchi state from where Gombe was carved out, Governor Ahmed Adamu Muazu was then busy building roads, schools, and critical infrastructure, while typically it was not so good in the baby Gombe state – things weren’t working in tandem with the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the state.
As generally envisaged, this elicited envious reactions and intensely irked the entire people of the state with the exception of the silent few who were serving in the late Hashidu’s administration. But fortunately enough, People Democratic Party (PDP) auspiciously provided better alternative in Muhammadu Danjuma Goje who eventually and strategically grasped power from the Hashidu’s APP in 2003.
At last, after a long wait, there was light at the end of the dark tunnel. After his emergence, Danjuma Goje didn’t disappointed the people of the state as he formulated worthwhile policies and administrative strategies during his reign that practically situated Gombe ahead of Bauchi state. The state becomes the beehive of road construction, economic hub of the entire Northeastern states, while competing with Kano among the whole 19 Northern states.
Today, most of our wealthy individuals in the state whether in the business, political, agricultural cycles and even contractors, including the governor himself, got a rooter to their wealth during the Goje’s administration, whereas simultaneously the major roads in state; famous Gombe State University, Pantami Stadium, Gombe International Airport, Gombe International Hotel and other state of art developmental projects, to named but just a few, have were brought to life. This is what government is all about; human and capital development.
In fact, Goje set a pace for development in Gombe state; he constructed road networks due to their economic, social and security relevance to the communities and the state at large. In terms of the quality of the projects, he didn’t compromised – sometimes going to inspect projects with a hammer in hand to test the quality of the concrete mixture.
In fact, it was during Goje that people were praying for a road projects to pass through their property, because of the lucrative and rewarding compensation being paid by the government. Most bought houses better than their previous ones and equally had some funds as capital to either boost their existing businesses or start a fresh business.
Also, Ibrahim Dankwambo who took over from Goje, visibly followed the steps of his predecessor in building quality roads, empowering local and indigenous contractors and engages in lots of human capital development. In replicating Goje’s gesture, he uses tape to measure the thickness of the road projects during inspection. Indeed, Dankwambo’s compensation was also not bad as people were not groaning then as is the case of Inuwa Yahaya’s administration today.
In complete deviation from the set preferences of his predecessors, Inuwa Yahaya is now chiefly the contractor general in the state; the projects are only sited principally for the benefits of the contractor not the state. In so many instances, people whose houses have been affected by road construction, get miserable compensation that can’t buy them a house anywhere in the state, and as a result, most of them become tenants from landlords at the end. What an unfortunate situation!
In Gombe today, people are assiduously and fervently praying against any government project to affect their property; they would suffer lost, than gain as obtainable during the previous administrations.
Recently, I read a write up by one of the 2019 gubernatorial contenders of the state under the political podium of the APC, Muhammed Jibrin Barde, where he objectively frowns at the reckless manner by which the Inuwa led administration awarded a contract for the installation of solar streets light in the state at the whooping cost of N7.8 billion to cover 113 kilometers within the state metropolis.
By scrutinizing the cost and the parameters enclosed in the contract agreement, a pole of street light is costing the state approximately the sum of N1.5 million which is the highest of its kind and the most bloated contract of such nature.
What is more baffling is that there’s an existing gasoline powered street light throughout the state capital, and by awarding the new contract, the previous project has become a waste of taxpayers’ money to the tune of over N10 billion merely to empower and favour certain contractors and their cronies.
Sadly, this was done by the government that grounded the newly established Gombe State University of Science and Technology, Kumo claiming paucity of funds as their reasons. This is ridiculous and a perfect case of misplacement of priority.
Today in Gombe State, if there’s anybody benefitting from this administration, it is Inuwa Yahaya and his very close cycle of cronies. And they’ve have turn the state to their personal investment and fiefdom thereby mortgaging our future.
It’s less than two years to the 2023 general election, but it would be a greater opportunity to rescue Gombe from the current political investors ravaging the state.
Daniel writes from Billiri