There is no doubt that Bwari Area Council has witnessed a lot of development in the last two and half years of Peter Yohanna Ushafa’s leadership. The ten wards that make up the Council have benefited dividend of democracy in many sectors, in the years under review. Today, Peter Yohanna has completed almost all the projects started by his predecessor, Isah Dara. This is unlike many other leaders, who will prefer to abandon the projects started by their predecessor, Peter elected to do first thing first- completing ongoing projects for the benefit of the people of Bwari Area Council. Bwari Area Council had since commissioned its newly completed legislative house and office complex located in the area council secretariat respectively; this is in line with Peter Yohanna administration’s commitment to completing those projects that are of benefits to the council. It could be recalled that the expensive two-story building legislative house and office complex was inherited from the previous administration.
In general, paucity of fund has tended to slow the rate at wish democracy dividends would have trickled down to people in the Six [6] area councils in Federal Capital Territory [FCT]. In an effort at making the rural areas in Bwari Area Council assessable to rural farmers, roads have been constructed by the administration of Peter Yohanna. Among the areas that have benefited from this project are Payi and Pwabara communities in the Council. The road is at about 80% completion, with drainages and culverts already in places. Of priority to the administration of Yohanna is the provision of transformer to boost electricity supply in the Area Council. Payi, Pwabara and other communities in the Council are beneficiary of Ushafa’s administration in Bwari.
Empowerment of Women and youths appears to be a major priority of the Council. In line with this, About 300 rural women are slated to benefit from shops to be built at the ultra-modern motor park which is under construction at Bwari. The multipurpose park with a big parking space will also accommodate more than 200 commercial drivers when the place is completed. The council’s chairman, Peter Yohanna Ushafa, dropped the hint during the foundation laying ceremony of the project which he said is being built in partnership with a private organization. It is expected that the park will provide employment to the youths who will be employed to provide services. It will as well shore up the internal revenue base of the Council. Commercial activities within the area will pick up greatly
With respect to MDG projects, the administration of Yohanna in Bwari Area Council has done pretty well. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Dr. Precious K. Gbeneol, had cause to praise the quality work done by Yohanna’s Bwari Area Council; when visited some MDGs projects executed by the Bwari Area Council, which included a comprehensive Primary Health Care Clinic at Kogo village.She expressed satisfaction with the quality of projects provided by the council and urged the community leaders in the area to continue to give the council support in order for them to achieve all the MDGs goals in 2015. On his part, the council’s Chairman, Peter Yohanna Ushafa, who conducted the entourage round the project sites, hailed the idea behind the MDGs programme, adding that its objectives have started manifesting in the lives of ordinary people, especially those living in rural communities.
Perhaps, in line with the transparency drive of administration, and effort to block all leakages in the council, the Chairman set up committee to that effect. He listed the committee’s terms of reference to include verification and recovery of all landed property of the council, such as schools, markets, clinics and health centers. “The committee’s members should also verify as well as recover all serviceable and non-serviceable vehicles belonging to the council and have two weeks within which to submit their reports to the council,” reports indicate that Yohanna;s action has started yielding the desired results, as many properties have been recovered, and the financial position of the Council has improved.
In the Educational sector, report has it that Bwari Area Council of the FCT awarded scholarships to 1,649 students in the area in the 2011 academic year. The report further stated that council spent about N17.6 million on the scholarship scheme. Apart from the scholarship award, the Chairman informed that public libraries, orphanages, health centres and many construction projects were also completed in the area in 2011. The chairman promised to embark on repair of rural roads in the first quarter of 2012, to create access routes for socio-economic development in the area. He expressed optimism that a housing scheme for people of the area would be made a priority in 2012 to ease accommodation problems facing residents. The chairman’s statement here has shown that the council is committed to infrastructural development. Also, many primary schools classrooms have been renovated, chairs have been provided.
Just as the Chairman is working round the clock to provide the dividend of democracy to the people of Bwari Area Council, his wife is not left out in contributing her own quota in uplifting the lot of the women in the Council. She had since called on parents in the area to take the education of their children especially the female ones seriously.Mrs. Ushafa made the call in Bwari after visiting some aged people and sick ones in Bwari town in line with the spirit of the Holy month of Ramadan.She said gone are the days when parents, especially those in rural areas, discriminate among the children based on sex as regards education and urged them to give equal opportunity to their children. She said she will soon start advocacy campaign to the rural communities on the need for parents to pay more attention to their children’s upkeeps. “Very soon I am going to organize skill acquisition programme for the women and the youths in order to empower them economically, so that they can also contribute to the growth of the society,” she said. On her visit to the aged and the sick people, the chairman’s wife said the gesture is to recognize their contributions to the growth of their respective families through giving elderly advice. She donated some items and cash to them and wished the sick ones quick recovery. Reports have it that she had started her programme.
Health sector has also attracted attention of the Hon Chairman. Report has it that at a press briefing in 2010 on “Sustaining Free Family Planning Commodities Through Prompt Budget Approval and Continuing Funding” organized by the Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NUHRI) in Abuja, Hon. Peter Yohanna Ushafa’s succinctly captured his administration’s giant strides in this important sector, —. The Chairman has this to say, “This programme is barely two years in Bwari Area Council, we spent a total of N1,450,000 in 2010, and so far this year, we have spent another N1,476,000” .“The Bwari Area Council has done a lot on this issue because for us, healthcare is a priority. It’s important to inform this gathering that to demonstrate our commitment to this cause; we have increased our budgetary allocation, with community mobilization/sensitization by (N700, 000), training of personnel (N1million) and family planning consumable (3.6m) receiving the largest allocation”. The Chairman is popularly called announced that “health is wealth. If we concentrate on ensuring that our citizens are in good health, then we can sure of sustainable wealth creation”. There is no doubt that the Peter Yohanna Ushafa’s administration in Bwari Area Council places a high premium on health sector and this is commendable.
Surely, Bwari Area Council under the leadership of Peter Yohanna Ushafa has provided democracy dividend in the area council, within the confines of funds available to the Council. It is therefore, expected that as he seeks second term in office, his score card will be a good advantage to him.
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Emeka Oraetoka
Information Management Consultant& Researcher
Wrote in from Kubwa, Bwari Area Council
P.O.Box 18928 e-mail:oramekllis@lycos.com
