|
Challenge can only bring out the best in a man if he sees and takes the situation as such. Thus the creation of Gombe State in 1996 presented onerous challenges which no illustrious children of the land neither saw nor seized by the horns until Governor Mohammed Danjuma Goje came along in the 2003 general elections. Not many people thought at the time that he could take the state to greater heights, let alone make it an enviable one in the comity of states. But that was the tonic that spurred him on, and in five short years, Goje has proved himself worthy of taking on any responsibility, no matter how Herculean.
The first tenure of the ‘Sarkin Yakin Gombe’s reign as Governor transformed Gombe in its entirety and gave real meaning to the state’s slogan as ‘Jewel in the Savannah.’ The multi-billion Naira Gombe Regional Water Supply Scheme, the Gombe State University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, the Airport, hospitals’ construction, renovation and upgrading, the Revolving Drug Scheme in hospitals, scholarship awards and many more such worthy projects and programmes were executed by Governor Goje in his first term, thus changing the face of the state for ever. In five short years, Gombe under Goje is standing tall among its sister states, and has facilities that many older states do not as yet have. The state capital of Gombe was best described in 2003 as a glorified local government headquarters, but under Goje, it is now a city worthy of the name. Today, the socio-economic life of the state has greatly improved using the level of infrastructural development, the influx of residents and the boost in economic activities as indices for judgment. One can now say that Gombe state is indeed the commercial nerve centre of the Northeast. Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Professor Charles Soludo may not have been to Gombe State before but his recent visit for the commissioning of the Currency Centre of the state branch of CBN left him in awe when he was told that over 90 percent of the development effort he saw came into being in the last five years. If Professor Soludo thinks he had seen more than enough as account of a four-year stewardship, one can only wonder what he would be saying by the time the second term is over, considering the series of projects the administration has in the offing. Already, rumour mills and critics abuzz with negative propaganda that the second term would end up as a "chop I chop" as the governor only performed in the first term so as to get re-elected to a second term, and as such would not deem it fit to do anything else but to use the opportunity to siphon public funds. But they have now realized how unfair they are as many viable projects are getting executed. To begin another marathon execution of projects in the state, contract has been awarded for the landscaping, construction of asphalt laid access roads and incorporation of other facilities in Gombe State School of Agriculture, which was completed and handed over to Leventis Foundation to manage earlier in the life of this term. The same way, the State University tagged the ‘baby project’ of the administration would in less than two weeks boast of a fully equipped ultra-modern library in readiness for full accreditation. When the revolutionary overhaul of the education sector in the state began with the concept of Gombe State University, critics taunted government of neglecting the foundational (primary and secondary) levels of education for the apex which according to them, amounted to an unnecessary white elephant projects aimed at siphoning state funds, only to be abandoned afterwards. But unknown to them, the man at the helm of affairs was adopting a systematic inverted pyramid approach in addressing the mess created in education sector over the years. Now, consequent upon the recommendations of the committees commissioned to examine and recommend on improving the learning conditions in primary and secondary schools, Gombe state government has decided to lavish N3.46billion per annum for the repositioning of primary and secondary schools in the state. On the frontiers of health, the phase two of the renovation of Bajoga, Dukku and Zambuk general hospitals has been set rolling, just as the construction of a new one in Kashere has been contracted out to bring the total number of general hospitals in the state to sixteen, with three of them and seven other cottage hospitals constructed by the present administration. To match the increasing demands for personnel in the hospitals, the recruitment of four medical consultants, 30 medical doctors, 80 nurses and midwives, a number of pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists/technologists and hundreds of other health workers has just been concluded. In the same vein, Gombe state indigenes studying B.Sc Nursing as well as attending School of Nursing and Midwifery across the federation have been put on Salary Grade Level 05 and 04 respectively with an undertaking that they would work for the state upon graduation. A number of rural road contracts have equally been awarded for construction across the three senatorial districts, which include Liji-Kalshingi, Nafada and Bajoga township roads, and Talasse township roads to name a few. The list is endless but it would be incomplete without noting that the Northeast zone office of Education Resource Centre sited in Gombe in view of recent antecedents of the state in education could still have been incomplete by now if not for the contributions of the state government, having committed N36million as well as providing a 35 KVA stand-by generator, constructing an asphalt laid access road to the premises and extending electricity to the centre. To be precise, Goje is still at work and will not relent until the expiration of the mandate bestowed on him by the people of the state. We saw that in the first term, and this one will be even better. Lawal is a Special Assistant to Governor Muhammad Danjuma Goje on Media and Publicity.
Views: 1420
|
All sections 
