For any conscientious and discerning indigene of Kaduna State will have to be sadden by the dilatory nature of the present administration of the State especially if one looks at the pace at which other States are fast transforming . Virtually there is no any place you can visibly see and say that there is really a Governor in Kaduna State. Other States are wonderfully doing well in terms of their policies and programs which are set to address the peculiar needs of their people. But in Kaduna nothing is moving.
Just as the whole nation is suffused with the stenches of Goodluck Jonathan’s maladministration, states like Lagos, Kano, Gombe and Jigawa have become a standout in terms of good governance because their governors have proved that they are visionary leaders and have the interest of their people at heart. It’s very unfortunate that we, people of Kaduna State are not blessed with the type of leadership which these States have now. A disheartening indeed that we, the people of Kaduna State are just been struck with the malady of ‘incompetence’ and ‘cluelessness’ which typified the general administration of Jonathan at the top.
It is almost ten months now or so that Muktar Ralaman Yero becomes the governor of the State, but the state is just stagnant. There is no any serous project, current or ongoing and there is no sign of any physical developmental projects or programs. The state is just as it were before, and there is no any sign even an inch that things will change because it is self-evident that, from the way he is fumbling, the Governor doesn’t have vision and focus on how to administer the State. People are crying out of this ineptitude that they are now calling him“gwamnan taron suna da buki da gaisuwan mutuwa” literally translated as the governor that prioritizes attending funerals and wedding ceremonies. And this stem from the way he is always been sighted to be roving around the state attending events that are mostly wedding ceremonies and funerals. In fact, this has seems to be the hallmark of his administration.
It grieves me to see that as metropolitan as Kaduna State which is the nerve-centre of the North and one of the strategic states in the country that supposes to be the model of other states, but the state is just at the backside of progress. Not by being languorous only, in executing state programs, also the formlessness of the governor is surely felt in every angle of the state.
Disgruntled elements like me would have been appeased if the governor created at least a mirror image for the state by engaging in constructing physical infrastructures like streets lights, culverts and drainages in all the noticeable places of the state which will at least give any visitor passing through the state a false expression that the governor is working. And that will never in any way stretch the coffers of the state. If we are to take a simple comparative analysis between Kaduna state and Gombe state, Kaduna had received a federal allocation of N7.7 Billion for the month of July 2013 and Gombe state received N4.435 Billion for the same month.
But if one goes to Gombe today will have to testify without any scintilla of doubt that Gombe state is now a model of good governance because the people of the state are really reaping their own dividends of democracy both from the perspective of Human Capital Development and Social Development you will see development vividly in every nook and corners of the state. But in my state-Kaduna state, with that whopping amount there is absolutely nothing on ground that you can see in terms of social amenities, programs or policies or whatsoever, and confidently say that N500 Million at least, out of that money had been expended.
Contrary to the claims by the Director General Media and Publicity for the governor that there are ongoing programs and projects in the state, we do not see any, if not those programs and projects initiated by the previous administration. For example the Sure-P tricycles were bought by Late Yakowa for the purpose of youth empowerment under Sure-P program. The recent distribution of fertilizers to all the wards of the 23 local governments of the state (600 bags per ward each) was also the initiation of the late Yakowa. In fact we heard that he (Yakowa) had kept the fertilizers in store for that purpose. Not only that the governor hijacked the glories now, but his DG went on media and gave out-and-out lies about other programs that he said were ongoing which in truths are non-existent.
However also, as I pointed earlier or somewhere in my write up about the Yakowa’s death that religious sentiments and ethnic prejudices have had successfully ingrained in our political system. So dangerous, that all our judgments, perceptions and idiosyncrasies on matter of leadership (politics) are all viewed through ethnic and religious lenses.
Our tolerance/criticisms to mediocrities/excellent leadership depend only from which section the particular leader emerges. In view of that, now I know for certain that I will be lynched by my people in Zaria (where I come from and where the governor comes from also) for daring to come out and point out the fact that the governor is not performing. As a practiced custom, it is highly not expected of me now to raise eyebrow on the dismal performance of the governor or what so ever because of “our son of the soil” syndrome.
Lastly as a concern onlooker of the State, I am aghast by the disturbing whispers that the state is being mortgaged by some elements in Abuja, and also that the state is govern by proxy. If the whispers are to be true, then it implies that all the budgets of the state, its policies and programs are determined elsewhere. And it will also means that we have only a ceremonial governor of which the governor’s approach to so many issues in the state since when he became the governor has laid credence to the popular assertions that he is just a lackey. Then truly we are in a serious problem.
–
Mukhtar Garba Maigamo, A staff of Unity Bank Plc
And can be reached justwe247@@yahoo.com or @mukyflx
