How Bauchi is Making Progress-Bala Mohammed

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has outlined measures put in place by his administration in the last two years in other to change the developmental narrative of the State.

This is even as he stated that the development of a governance template and strategic planning are key to the transformation being recorded in the North Eastern State. 

Bala Mohammed spoke in Abuja while delivering a paper on ” Governance and Sustainable Development”, said that on assumption of office and with the assistance of development experts, he was able to identify the key priorities of his “government based on the numerous challenges confronting the state”.

These priorities he listed to include “education, health, infrastructure, housing, agriculture and human capital development through empowering women and youth”.

Bala Mohammed who spoke at the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 14 of the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja noted that though his administration  inherited a state that was badly managed over the years and an economy condition that made it hard to do much with limited resources, the situation he met did not “discourage or make us to create excuses”.  

According to him, “We approached governance with a strong understanding of the problems and innovative approaches to deliver sustainable solutions”. 

His words: “We approached governance with a strong understanding of the problems and innovative approaches to deliver sustainable solutions.

“I started by assembling a capable team in my cabinet. I made the appointments based on merit, capacity and experience of the appointees.

“Good governance is hard to be achieved without a competent team.  I am a strong believer that leadership is not about one single individual.  It is a task that requires collective approach and home grown solutions, while borrowing best practices from other jurisdictions”

He noted that the “ability to enthrone a governance template strong enough to drive our ambitious people-centred developmental goals, anchored on our Bauchi Renewal Agenda, has reinforced my conviction that planning is the bedrock of any successful venture”. 

He outlined some of the measurements he adopted in order to promote good governance in Bauchi State to include aproaching leadership as a collective responsibility that should not be viewed as a means of enriching a very few elites and 

establishment of a Clear Governance Environment. 

The governor stated as a deliberate way of ensuring the culture of transparency is instituted, “we also publish our quarterly budget performance and audited account at the end of each financial year”.  

This singular action, he further noted “has attracted many development partners, including World Bank, WHO, USAID, DFID, AfDB, and many more donor agencies too numerous to mention, just as he ensured . that the Counterpart contribution by the state is paid on time”.

Bala Mohammed stated that in order to ensure that all citizens of the state are carried along, he made inclusiveness  and diversity management a top priority.

According to him, “aware that much of the destabilising distrust is caused by exclusion of relevant groups, we created a template that ensures that the diversity of the state-ethnic, religious, gender, generation etc, is accommodated in the dividends of democracy, especially infrastructure and appointments”, pointing out that “in the process, we have built trust through deliberate stakeholder engagement”.

He disclosed that in “pursuant to our Bauchi Renewal Project which had the provision of infrastructure as one of its major planks, since inception of the administration on 29^th May 2019, we have embarked on massive infrastructural development for, at least, three main objectives: to create a conducive environment that would facilitate socio-economic activities, to reduce poverty and to combat crime and criminality through people empowerment. 

“Consequently, on assumption of office, I started by declaring a state of emergency in the education and health sectors. Thus, we plunged headlong into the renovation or reconstruction of dilapidated schools, to ensure that the poor has access to quality education”. 

According to him, “in some cases, new ones constructed. On assumption of office 2019, we promptly assessed the pending 2017, 2018 and 2019 UBE fund after paying our counterpart fund. With it, we were able to renovate over 627 classrooms at a total cost of N3.4 billion while for the same period, 352 new classrooms were constructed at a total cost of N3.3 billion”. 

Bala Mohammed further disclosed that the State is in the process of “renovating at least one secondary school in each of the 20 LGAs of the state.  This approach has contributed towards reducing the numberer of out of school children.