Bala Mohammed: The Sheriff Nigeria Needs in 2023
By Usman Abdullahi Koli
It sounds as if Paul Coelho knew Sen. Bala Mohammed when he said "When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It's very simple". For it is quite visible to the blind and audible to the deaf, Bala had carved a niche for himself as an altruistic, enthusiastic, passionate leader in all the offices he occupied with sterling record of success.
Ordinarily, losing a bet, a competition, an election or whatever set goal is not a weakness. Just as winning is not always earned. That is why it is popularly believed that sometimes, God in His wisdom brings us down to teach us that those who lose are not lucky and that our triumph is often not completely deserved; perhaps we were just lucky. But looking at Bala's track record, one can not outrule his prowess in polity, acumen in strategy and stamina in delivery.
Bala has never lost an election. But this does not get into his head is all the more fulfilling. He had developed his constituency as a Senator, had contributed immensely to the development of the Federal Capital Territory as a Minister and has now changed the entire narrative of Bauchi State for the better as a Governor. More than any governor in Bauchi State since the return of democracy, the state ganged up to engage him, the Sheriff, in 2019 for the unusual task of salvaging it. The instincts of the people of Bauchi were right afterall. We are already vindicated.
As a true Nigerian who has no vision than to see a country we would all be proud of, Bala is taking the bull by the horn to replicate the potpourri of achievements recorded in Bauchi throughout the country. Whoever has not been to Bauchi in 5 years may likely need a guide to navigate the city when next he visits; courtesy of the infrastructural development projects springing up in thousands. Presently, the administration had constructed roads across the state capital and some LGAs stretching to over 300 kilometres, while flagging off more than 50 and still executing same projects in and outside the state capital.
To drive my point home on the Sheriff Nigeria needs, I will take turns to give a glimpse of what this extraordinary leader had exceptionally done in infrastructural development, education, health, security and lots more during his stewardship of Bauchi State as a governor since 2019. On assumption of office, the Kauran Bauchi had a meeting with all stakeholders across party lines, traditional and religious leaders to join hands and make Bauchi a better state.
Education
Education has always been key to unlocking the potentials of people, freeing them from the shackles of ignorance and emancipating them to reach the highest strata possible. The government has so far spent over N13billion on this sector. While two other states in Nigeria owe WAEC and hence couldn't register tens of thousands of students from public schools for this year's examination, Bala paid for the UTME, NECO and WAEC fees for 3,810 students who got grades ‘A’ and ‘B’ in the previous year's SSCE aptitude Test in the State and has consistently been paying since the inception of this administration. Under the watch of Bala, no student should lose out of an opportunity to study abroad just because the government couldn't pay for his WAEC - which is essentially the internationally recognised O'level certificate.
The governor also approved payment of NABTEB exams fees for all the SS3 students of Government Technical Colleges along with all the half-a-thousand students sitting for NBAIS exams for Government Arabic Colleges. The state government does not owe any of the national examination bodies a dime. The government has renovated over 100 schools in the state to put a smile on the faces of people battling with a poor academic environment in some communities. Again, construction of over 50 primary and secondary schools in the state. This was out of Governor Bala's passion for education in order to have a better tomorrow to ensure that the future generations are grown with proper upbringing and cognitive ability.
Health
Primary health care centres have been built, equipped and furnished to taste at all the local governments in the State. Others were rehabilitated and improved. If one intends to know the real state of affairs in health, he should visit the rural areas, not the cities. Among the achievements recorded are: renovation of about 204 health centres, among which 192 primary health care centers and 12 general hospitals.
Thanks to the Governor for seeking out and collabotating with Development Partners with a resolve to fast-track polio immunisation in the state to reduce the proportion of missed children during such exercises. As part of efforts to sustain a polio-free status in Bauchi State, the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA) has flagged off a door-to-door vaccination campaign against polio virus in the state. Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed has directed the conduct of comprehensive sanitation exercises across the 20 local government areas of the state in compliance with the national clean Nigeria campaign; ‘Use the Toilets’ aimed at delivering open defecation-free Nigeria by 2025. The Governor has vowed to end yellow fever in the state. About 600 residents in Duguri district of Alkaleri Local Government were vaccinated following the outbreak of yellow fever in the area in the previous year.
Driven by his concern for the promotion of health, the governor paid a visit to all the 27 general hospitals across the state to distribute medical appliances to ensure effective and sound working system of the management of the hospitals. During the CoronaVirus pandemic, the state government distributed over 85000 face masks in line with Covid-19 procurement guidelines to ensure that the masses are safe from the danger of the virus.
Security
Safeguarding and protecting the lives and property of the masses is the primary essence of government. In this wise, the governor has distributed 50 vehicles to all military and paramilitary agencies in the state providing the local ones with all that's required to carry out their activities. He may be carrying the carrot all the time, but Bala is equally the leader that would take the stick where necessary to prevent the breakdown of law and order anywhere in the state.
Few days after the Debora incident in Sokoto, there was an uprising in Warji town in which property was destroyed, thank God, no life was lost. Bala rushed back to the area, summoned the community leaders, pressure groups and security agencies where he charged them to keep up to their responsibilities. He is such a proactive leader who stops at nothing to protect his people.
Sharply connected to this, his respect for traditional leaders is extraordinary. In catering for their welfare, he had recently distributed dozens of luxury vehicles to the Emirs and District Heads to ease their movements for official functions.
When Kaura became the governor, he said all security agencies in Bauchi are his working partners, he provides them with necessary support. Still on the achievement, religious leaders are partners in progress. Both angles are given consideration and treated equally. One cannot achieve this without a security expertise, as Bauchi is now one of the most peaceful places to live in the country.
Agriculture
On agricultural development, the government produced over 4,000 metric tons of fertilizer. It had sponsored 1000 students to go for a-2-week course programme in Abuja, only to have a better sound knowledge on farming and compete with others in other parts of the country on modern agriculture and productivity.
About 5000 farmers got two bags of fertilizer each at the commencement of the planting season. The return on this public investment is that farmers, especially irrigation farmers, now export their produce to other parts of the country beyond the state. Maintaining this tempo, we shall soon be exporting beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Local Government Election
This sounds ordinary. But since the returns to democracy in 1999, Kaura is one of the best democratic leaders who vowed to keep his promises. It has been over a dozen years since last Bauchi State had democratically elected chairmen. But Bala defied all odds to ensure that LGAs in Bauchi were given autonomy and held the LG elections. Now all the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State are manned by democratically elected chairmen.
Crisis Management Skills
Nigeria is bedevilled with more crises than we could count. This gentle man knows how to manage and contain problems within a short period of time. It could be recalled what happened in Misau LGA between farmers and herders on land dispute, the governor immediately set up a committee which went round all land boundaries across the state, made recommendations which were largely implemented. With the governor's body language and attendant action, no issue of such kind will ever occur again, because the man in charge is proactive and sees with his mind not eyes.
Whenever there's any conflict between state legislative and executive, political propagandas and accusations are what manned the affairs of both. But Kaura's party the PDP despite being the minority in the state assembly, as the executive arm have been working round the clock to see the state become better keeping aside any political brouhaha. Another extraordinary record done by this gentle man, he welcomes them with open hand and embraces them, seeks advice from them, respects them as lawmakers without any belitteling their contributions to progress.
For want of time and space, I will rest my case here with a call to our National Delegates for the PDP Presidential Primaries to look at Sen Bala's credentials, commitment, passion, dedication, foresight and vision to emancipate Nigeria and propel it to its rightful position in the comity of nations. Indeed Bala is the Sheriff Nigeria needs. A plus is his capacity to unseat the ruling APC at the National level just as he successfully did unseat the ruling APC in Bauchi back in 2019. He did it. He is ready to do it again. And he would do it!
Usman Abdullahi Koli,
mernoukoli@gmail.com
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