By Muazu Abari
I read a beautiful rejoinder with the above caption written by Mr. Peter Ahemba, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, issued on behalf of the Nasarawa State Government as a response to my earlier writeup published in some media platforms entitled Nasarawa: When you have noise maker as Governor.
Ahemba’s rejoinder makes an interested reading because at least he has tried albeit in vain, to respond to the issues I raised in my article. But it is still better than the one written by my very good friend Mallam Ali Abare, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Abdullahi Sule on media, entitled: Let’s focus on issues not insinuation. In the sordid rejoinder, Abare simply dismissed my writeup with a wave of the hand calling it an exercise in political mischief, not honest commentary on governance without addressing a single issue contained in my writeup.
Ahemba made some allusions in his rejoinder and even in the absence of answers went ahead to ask some pertinent questions which I feel duty bound to respond to for the purpose of clarity before going ahead like a dexterous bricklayer to dislodge the blocks of irrational arguments put forward by the governor’s aide.
Ahemba in his treatise asked if truly I’m from Nasarawa State, and went ahead to conclude that I must have lost touch with happenings in the state to pen down my article. In addition, he also accused me of doing the bidding of my paymaster(s) even though he did not disclose the identity of the paymasters.
He also expressed disgust that I have referred to a sitting governor as a noise maker which in his summation has exposed the depth of my questionable upbringing and lack of respect for constituted authorities. If Ahemba is smart enough, from my surname “Abari” he should have known that I’m from Nasarawa State.
But since he claimed not to know while expressing doubt about my Nasarawa roots, I want to unequivocally and emphatically states that I’m from Nasarawa State, an Alago by tribe from Obene ward of Keana, the headquarter of keana local Government area of Nasarawa State brought up in Lafia, the state capital. I hail from a reputable and highly respected family of Alh. Haruna Abari (Sarkin Yakin Keana) of blessed memory.
It would also interest him to know that, I don’t have a questionable upbringing, I was well brought up and have regards for constituted authorities but that doesn’t mean I should shy away from saying things the way they are especially on governance of my beloved state for the expediency of political correctness.
It would also interest Ahemba to know that my opinion, features, analyses and commentaries on state and national issues preceded Sule’s administration. I have over the years exercised my democratic rights of expressing my opinions without hinderance and without recourse to whose ox is gored. I want to also make it clear that I will continue to exercise this fundamental democratic privilege even after Sule has left office. At this juncture and unlike Ahemba, it is my belief that as a mortal, Gov Sule is not omniscient and can make mistakes. And as conscientious citizen, I’m duty bound to call him to order.
The people of Nasarawa State, have elected Sule as their Governor not because he is more intelligent handsome or popular than the remaining contenders. In fact, if the election was based on individual popularity and acceptability among the people of Nasarawa State, he won’t have been governor by now if not for Almakura’s last minute decision to endorse and support him as his preferred successor. Therefore, citizens have the right to scrutinize his actions, inactions and even unpalatable utterances.
The fact that, Sule is the governor today doesn’t mean that, the should not be hold accountable for his actions or that, the people of the state should surrender their birthrights to him, because the well being of Nasarawa people is not about who is in power or not but about collective interest and development of Nasarawa State.
The people of Nasarawa State elected Gov Sule with their votes to serve them rather than lord over them. Therefore, they have the right to question his actions, inactions and utterances that keep portraying them in bad light. The fact that, he is a sitting governor today doesn’t mean that, the people of Nasarawa State should not hold him accountable for his actions or they should surrender their intestines for him to feast on, because he is in power today. Many we’re there before him and many would come after him but Nasarawa would forever remain our collective heritage.
Now to the main issue of Governance and achievements recorded by Sule’s administration as raised by the governor’s media aide, I never said the governor has not recorded some achievements worth celebrating. Even the worst government anywhere in the world must have achievements to showcase. But in all honesty, the governor’s achievement being portrayed by his aides is over exaggerated especially when juxtaposed with the huge resources that accrued to the state.
It is also a fallacy and insult on the sensibility of the people of Nasarawa State for a paid media aide to without shame or any sense of decency state that, Sule’s administration has inherited a huge infrastructure deficits from his predecessor. Even a blind man in Nasarawa State can attest to the fact that, the state has never had it so good in terms of massive infrastructural drive like under Almakura’s Government despite lean resources at his disposal. Despite lean resources, Al-Makura has succeeded in raising the bar of governance and has in few years transformed Nasarawa into a model of good governance and infrastructural development in Nigeria.
This assertion by Ahemba, contradicted Sule himself who in his inaugural speech after being sworn-in in 2019. As governor and in many fora, and at any slightest opportunity has showered platitudes and encomiums on Almakura whom he also, addressed endlessly as the Architect of modern Nasarawa for his massive infrastructural drive, laying and leaving behind a strong foundation for his administration to build upon.
It is the height of double speak for the same governor to make two contradictictory statements on the same issue at different times. Where is the place of decency and morality in governance then?
The argument that Lafia, the state capital has been redefined just because of one flyover and under pass when Adamawa State boosts of 6 to 7 flyovers including underpass all constructed by Fintiri’s administration in the last 7 years some in his first term despite lean resources at that time is not only senseless but myopic devoid of any logic.
A flyover over that cost the people of the state a whopping sum of N10bn which would have been used to construct and rehabilitate dilapidated roads across the state is a huge misplacement of priority.
A flyover build where there is no river and no serious traffic congestion which also crippled business along that Axis just for political showmanship and cosmetic purpose rather than addressing the challenges bedevilling the people is not development but retrogression and misplacement of priority. Thank to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who recently warned state governors against wasting public funds in the name of constructing flyovers and underpasses instead of addressing pressing challenges in their states.
The governor’ media aide in his piece also enumerated the achievements of governor Sule in various sectors such as construction of flyover and underpass, hundreds of kilometres of rural and urban roads which are either being constructed or rehabilitated and at various stages of completion.
He also mentioned renovations and equipping of schools, recruitment of teachers, upgrade of General Hospitals, medical equipments, attracting investments which jerked up the IGR of the state among others without telling the people how much came to the coffers of the state government as Federal allocations in the last 7 years of this administration.
I want to throw a challenge to the present administration in Nasarawa to tell us how much the state have received as Federal, allocations as well as IGR collected in the last 7 years of Sule’s administration to enable the people of the state to compared and contrast to see whether the resources received by the state aligned with the achievements said to have been recorded .That is not all, we also, want to, know the cost of each project awarded by this administration in various sectors in the interest of transparency and accountability which democracy entails and which the administration promised the people of Nasarawa State.
It is equally not enough for Ahemba to tell us that Sule’s administration has constructed hundreds of kilometers of urban and rural roads across the state that is a vague statement the people of Nasarawa State, deserves to know specifically how many kilometers of both rural and urban roads constructed by the administration since it came on board? At what cost each of these road contract were awarded? The locations of these roads and the number of kilometers for each. How many were completed so far? How many were yet to be completed and level of work done so, also with other projects in various sectors if we must take this administration serious in terms of accountability.
While waiting for above answers from the blues, it would interest the people of Nasarawa State, to know that since the creation of the state in 1996, there is no any administration in the history of the state that collected stupendous resources like the present government in the state which means that, the administration supposed to have done ten times morethan what they claimed to have done so far in the last 7 years.
For instance, records shows that, throughout the 8 years of Umaru Tanko Almakura, the average monthly allocations Nasarawa received was between N2.5bn and sometimes N3bn which was the highest monthly allocations gotten in his 8 years as governor depending on National revenues and monthly FAAC distributions to states but between May 29th 2019 when Sule took over to, December 2022, alone Nasarawa State collected N179.5bn with the exception of IGR.
In 2023 full year allocations Nasarawa State received N73.32bn as records shows and if combined with that of Local Governments it stood at N111.54bn and with the removal of fuel subsidy the state allocations triple from between an average of N3.8bn and N4bn to, N14 and N16bn monthly which the governor himself admitted in his recent media interview.
All what the people of Nasarawa State are asking is a simple question of accountability and transparency on how their resources is been expanded from a government that always sing transparency, prudence and accountability as its slogan which I believe is not too much to ask from this government.
I rest my case here for now.
Abari, a journalist, writes from Yola