Leadership (Abuja)
Sanusi Muhammad
6 January 2009
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state, has been most unfortunately and erroneously portrayed by critics as a non-performer simply because of his penchant for trips overseas primarily to woo foreign investments to his state. Fortunately such pedestrian misconception emanating mainly from his detractors who are hell bent to pull him down at all cost and by all means appears to have been debunked as Yuguda's name will now be written with a golden ink as a leader who, in spite of all odds firmly planted against him, has succeeded in putting Bauchi state solidly into the 21st century with the unprecedented records of achievements to his credit within few months in office.
Before his miraculous emergence, following his overwhelming victory in the April 2007 gubernatorial election, adjudged by local and international election monitors and observers as the most freest elections in Black Africa, Yuguda was hitherto not reckoned with as a politician of substance who could pull weight. Happily, but that certainly is now history as his triumphant entry into politics, his increasing political fortunes coupled with outstanding achievements so far in office, has elevated him to the esteemed status of a political bride admired and desired by all the registered political parties in Nigeria.
Available records show that Yuguda has achieved remarkable feat in the areas of human development, societal re-orientation, poverty reduction, improved civil service welfare, youth and women empowerment as well as security of lives and property.
Malam Isa Yuguda has also dramatically succeeded in improving infrastructural facilities across the nooks and crannies of the state through accelerated provision of pipe-borne water to the over six million people of the state, provision of standard health facilities, good road networks, renovation and construction of schools to reduce congestion, construction of low cost housing estates amongst others.
Similarly, Malam as fondly called, has revolutionalised agriculture through the procurement of N300million worth of tractor tillers for sale at highly subsidised rate to the local and poor farmers. In fact, there are several evidences on the ground to prove that Yuguda will go down in the history of the state as a pace setter for his ability to re-position and reshape the destiny of Bauchi state and its people on the path of a sound and sustainable development within few months of his stewardship. Besides, analysts posit that for the more than three decades since its creation in 1976, the people of Bauchi had never had it so good as evident in the visionary and transparent leadership style of Yuguda-led All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) administration.
For instance, in a reversal of fortune, Bauchi state, which according UNDP report was hitherto rated among the poorest and most backward in Nigeria, has dramatically raised its bar with a Gross Foreign Direct Investment (FID) flow of over $4billion within the first six months of the Yuguda administration. An in-depth investigation privately carried out shows that in a state where basic infrastructural development was hitherto lacking, the feat achieved by Yuguda represents a remarkable push by all intent and purposes in turning around the fortunes of the state for the good of all. The astute banker has exacerbated a lot of energy scouring around the world for the much needed investments using his numerous business contacts which he painstakingly laboured to achieve over the years through sincerity, honesty, hardwork and commitment to the service of humanity.
Interestingly, such external tours have so far yielded over $4billion worth of foreign investments for the various sectors of the Bauchi economy. These huge foreign investments that were the outcome of Governor Yuguda's mischievously criticized tours, according to Yuguda's Chief Spokesman, Muhammed Ahmed Abdullahi, will enable the state to create more than 3000 new job opportunities within the next five months. Abdullahi stated that already a reputable German petrochemical company has agreed to invest more than $3billion in the construction of a refinery in Bauchi. The project, according Yuguda's image maker, will entail the laying of pipe-lines right from the Atlantic Ocean to convey crude oil to Bauchi for the refinery. Abdullahi stressed that the refinery project is projected to provide over 3000 job opportunities to those in need as part of Yuguda's war against poverty and unemployment. And to cap it up, a reputable Chinese company has also agreed to establish an independent power generating plant in the state using the famous Dindima river in Alkaleri local government area of the state without prejudice to an effort by another reputable South Korean energy giant for the construction of an independent power plant that will generate over 100 megawatts of electricity for domestic consumption and revenue generation through sales to neighbouring states. Such untiring effort of Yuguda was able to convince a Nigerian business mogul, Dangote, to invest over N69billion in the completion of the moribund Federal government-owned Kafin Zaki dam project that was started in 1982 by the defunct Shehu Shagari administration which was jettisoned by successive administrations in the country. With the startling revelation by the Governor of Nigeria's Central Bank, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo that more than 60 per cent of persons living in the northern region of Nigeria are poor below the United Nations' prescribed poverty margin, Malam Isa Yuguda ought to be commended for his meticulous effort in poverty reduction and economic enhancement, particularly among the youth and young women that were left to rot by some callous, wicked, visionless, purposeless and self- centred politicians who used them as pawns to achieve their selfish political goals that benefited no one.
Today, one can courageously say without fear of contradiction and equivocation that Governor Yuguda has drastically reduced poverty in Bauchi state by 70 per cent as more than 30,000 hitherto idle youth and women had received training in various trades and skills to make them better citizens, more productive job providers rather than job seekers for the ultimate objective of moving Bauchi state and Nigeria forward.
The banking sense in Yuguda has also encouraged him to re-set the course of state affairs by re-scheduling the over N22bllion debt he inherited from the past administration. Definitely, the target of a good manager is to provide service with what is available rather than pretending and hiding under the cover of paucity of resources. Yuguda has so far provided the much needed requirements of the people within the limit of resources at his disposal that were judiciously utilised to put food on the table for the empty stomach.
According to Yuguda, democracy rests upon the principle that government is put in place to serve the people rather than people serving the government. This perhaps, explains why Yuguda's actions in government are tailored towards addressing the very basic needs of the ordinary people who for decades have been denied access to decent living by corrupt and self-centred leaders.
Determined to provide economic empowerment to the people and give the state its rightful place in Nigeria's commercial development, Yuguda extended an interest-free loan of N2billion with first installment of N500 million already released to local traders and artisans. This is in addition to the provision of N25million intervention funds to each of the nine Community Banks in the state to enable them transform successfully to full pledged Micro-Finance institutions to meet the guidelines prescribed by the Central Bank for their operations.
Also, Yuguda's tireless efforts in seeing to the completion of the gigantic multi-billion Kafin Zaki dam project is expected to provide one million job opportunities through the effective use of 125,000 hectares of arable land for irrigation, apart from fishing activities that will generate over N1billion income annually for the state.
Besides, the state has mapped out strategy to produce 1.7million tons of wheat annually for domestic and foreign exchange earning as well as one million tons of sugar cane for commercial production of sugar and ethanol, using the dam as a spring board.
To ensure accelerated economic activities aimed at reducing poverty among the various segments of the population, the Yuguda administration has swiftly procured the former Hinterland furniture and poultry company that is located at the Bauchi Industrial Estate at the cost of N120million for its skills acquisition programme in addition to the provision of allowances to all participants of its youth and women empowerment programmes.
The administration had within the shortest period of its existence in office re-activated and re-positioned the hitherto moribund famous Bauchi meat canning factory which was established in 1964 by the defunct government of Northern Nigeria .
Part of Yuguda's commendable role in fighting poverty, squalor, malnutrition and disease is the establishment of a life saving programme, 'TheYuguda Effect', which provides free food items and clothing to the less privilege people in desperate need of survival on daily basis in addition to the administration's prompt attention to service delivery in all facets of human endeavour.
In order to boost the state's economic viability, Governor Yuguda linked all the nine local governments in the northern part of the state with the newly purchased and installed 132/33 KVA sub-station in Azare and provided standard electric generating sets to all the 12 General Hospitals as well as some other health institutions and staff quarters.
Steady water supply was restored to the Bauchi Specialist Hospital and the other 12 General Hospitals, complete with reticulation and overhead tanks, apart from the provision of functional boreholes to all the hospitals, including the Bauchi Specialist Hospital as part of measures to ensure uninterrupted medical service to the people of the state.
Governor Yuguda has equally increased the monthly subvention to hospitals to support their service to the people. This is even as efforts are being intensified to affiliate the Bauchi state School of Nursing and Midwifery to a reputable Nigerian university for degree programmes to boost the health delivery system in addition to the expansion of the Casualty and Dialysis departments of the Bauchi Specialist Hospital apart from the provision of state-of-the-art Dialysis machines to the hospital.
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