Alhaji Danladi OC Kwano is a media aide to Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State. In this interview with The Point’s Correspondent, SANI MUHAMMAD SANI, Kwano explains why Bauchi people rallied behind the governor during the recently-concluded primary election of the All Progressives Congress despite all hurdles to ensure that he returns to office for the second term in 2019. Excerpts:
Why do you think Governor Abubakar scaled through the gubernatorial primary election for 2019 despite the hurdles, especially within the APC where he belongs?
Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar has over the three and half years of his administration in Bauchi State brought a lot of progress and initiatives to the state. He has given more attention to the education sector which has seen its worse days before the inception of his administration in 2015. The Governor has created more sources of funds for the vast populace of the state which is more significant and beneficial than government employment. He also pays monthly salaries as at when due despite the paucity of funds. Governor Abubakar has always been in the forefront of reinvigorating various sectors of the state economy, especially the education and health sectors. He contracted women from various communities across the state for the purpose of supplying and cooking free school feeding that is independent of the one initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Most significant to note is that he has created the enabling environment for all residents to dwell in a peaceful atmosphere which is basic for wealth creation. These are the reasons why he enjoys massive support of the people of the state
This is in itself another form of creating employment because employment does not mean people only to be employed by the Government and receiving salary at the end of every month . Having sources of funds, having something doing is the best way of creating wealth, and jobs opportunities which is even more important and beneficial than depending on salary as traders, farmers, small business men and women, even commercial motorcycle and other form of transport operators benefits from.
The governor executed the renovation of 486 schools across the 20 local governments of the state, furnished with basic learning materials such as desks and computers while a set of 682 blocks of brand new secondary school classrooms were erected. He has employed more qualified teachers and provided motorcycles to education supervisors in the state as well as ensuring payments of over five billion Naira monthly salary for primary and junior secondary school teachers and the construction of residential quarters for the teachers with a view to motivating the teaching staff.
In the health sector, the governor has renovated and ensured the supply of medicines and other basic equipment and materials to various hospitals across the state.
Governor Abubakar has also ensured peace and peaceful co-existence among the people of Bauchi State despite the serious challenges that he faced from those who don’t have the interest and the love of the people in their heart. They are detractors of his administration who throng Abuja every day in an effort to destabilise his administration, to scuttle the progress of Bauchi by believing that they could achieve their aim.It was because of this that his detractors thought that by deceiving the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress to impose direct primaries on the Bauchi State exco of the party, our amiable Governor will be defeated and they’ll have their
own way. But the almighty God is with Governor Abdullahi Abubakar and he scaled through the primaries with overwhelming majority in a peaceful primary election.
Abubakar constructed new roads and renovated some of them that had become impossible to renovate by previous administration in the state to execute in various local governments in the state. Most significant to note is that he has created the enabling environment for all residents to dwell in a peaceful atmosphere which is basic for wealth creation. These are the reasons why he enjoys massive support of the people of the state and all these are achieved because of his tenacity to ensure that the dividends of democracy are enjoyed by all.
There are allegations of under supply of the food being paid for by the government for the free school feeding programme by the contractors . What action do you think the governor should take if this is true?
These are mere allegations because there has not been any complain that the food supplied to any of the schools in the 20 local governments of the state is not enough, Governor Abubakar
has one pre-condition on the way he runs the affairs of his government. Once you cannot be trusted, he’ll throw you out of the bus before switching off the ignition. If these people that are saddled with the responsibility of cooking the free school feeding programme are thieves, he would have by now relieved them and employed another set. If this is true, I will personally advise him to dismiss them and employ others because there are always good people around.
There are complaints by some civil servants in Bauchi State who are still not happy with Gov. Abubakar’s way of handling their affairs. How do you react to this? .
No single civil servant is being owed by the state government because of the prudent and transparent manner the Bauchi Governor is handling the state’s resources. All salaries are being paid as at when due even before the 25th of every month at a time when civil servants in our neighbouring states are owing four to five months salary arrears.
We must not forget that this is a governor that received a commendation letter from the ICPC for judiciously utilizing the bailout funds. He was very unaware of an investigation launched on him by the ICPC on the bailout funds.
Gov. Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar also received commendation a letter from Bill Gates, the proprietor of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in which he appreciated the effort of the State Government in routine immunization programme and the implementation of primary health care under one
roof.
What advise do you have for the people?
My advice is first for the entire people of Bauchi State. They should
always ask themselves and be able to point out who has them at heart, who do they believe is always there among them and who always ensure they enjoy dividends of democracy and do away with those who only come to Bauchi only on election time. Because if that person who comes only during election time did not win, the people will never see him until another election timetable is scheduled. But Governor Abubakar has always been in Bauchi, he never goes and stay anywhere until election time, he has always been around in the state with the people up to the time he was elected Bauchi State Governor.
But some are of the view that he has not created employment.. We have so many civil servants in the state.
Bauchi State does not have other sources of revenue than that collected from the federation account and about sixty five percent of the money collected from the federation account every month goes to payment of the state’s civil servants’ salaries. The other remaining thirty five percent is the only portion that he uses to provide all the good things he has provided for the people of the state. A lot of people don’t understand that what is
being received from the federation account is not enough to pay workers at the same time provide basic amenities like water, medicine, hospital equipment, construction of road networks.
All these are what he has been doing for the people and to employ more workers as at nowmeans suicide. It is not that he’ll not employ more government workers where and when necessary but he has to soft pedal and wait for the right time, until sources of revenue accruing revenue to government coffers improves. And as I said earlier, he has created more sources of wealth than all those that governed the state before him.
I have no iota of doubt that Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar will win the 2019 election because he is the choice of the people and once you are the choice of the people, no one can be a stumbling block against
you.
