Waiting for Gov Bindow’s ‘stomach infrastructure’

The people of Adamawa state have cause to salivate when few weeks ago the state governor, Senator Muhammadu Umar Jibrilla, popularly known as Bindow, said at a ceremony while signing this year’s budget christened “Budget of Hope and Empowerment” that substantial amount in the budget was earmarked for “stomach infrastructure”.
The governor’s declaration is a response to the clamor in many quarters, particularly among politicians in the state who have been lamenting that Bindow’s penchant for infrastructural development like roads in the insurgency affected state is becoming boring. “Na road we go chop” has been the slogan of many in the state whenever you are listing the numerous road projects executed by the APC led government.
“Bindow for Social Change” is the sAlogan of his administration. And since democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, the governor seems ready to go with the people in area of stomach infrastructure.
“In line with our budget of Hope and Empowerment, this administration will do stomach infrastructure,” Bindow said at the historic ceremony.
At the budget signing ceremony witnessed by lawmakers who increased the state budget by N15 billion from the earlier estimate of N162 billion presented to them by the executive, Bindow also announced that the administration has released N500 million which was shared N20 million each by the state 25 lawmakers for constituency projects in line with the empowerment drive.
Already, the lawmakers who are on recess have started delivering the “appetizer” to the electorates; both in cash and stuff before the main one from the state government. It has been a healthy competition across Adamawa as the lawmakers try to outdo each other in sharing the dividends.
Member, representing Mubi South in Adamawa State House of Assembly, Abdulrahman Abubakar who is also the House of Assembly Committee chairman on Budget and Appropriation, said his constituency share has gone to empowerment/stomach infrastructure in tune with the state government.
Abdurrahman said he gave N10, 000 each to 3000 people to start petty business and paid NECO fee for 170 students, while 404 students received N5000 each as bursary. He also said that he purchased register, chalk and books for some schools in his constituency.
The opposition within APC and outside APC have been hard on Bindow using lack of empowerment programme as one of their main bullet for the attacks. Bindow will do well to walk his talk on this before it’s too late.
Except for the herdsmen/farmers crisis in the state, the harvest in Adamawa is okay; thanks to federal government who also intervened in distributing assorted grains to northern part of the state recovering from insurgency. What most people need now is the empowerment for steady supply of condiments.
The administration of Murtala Nyako did it under the banner of Local Apprenticeship Scheme (LAS) and it always remembered for that; it has remain a benchmark for assessing successive administration. For that’s one major way that makes the common man feels he directly participated in the “chop”.
Bindow is, indeed, working hard and need to compliment it by working smart for things to take shape. Adamawa people are salivating for the much talked stomach infrastructure promised by him; ignoring it is a tricky bone not even the hyena can handle.

Yakubu Uba,
Yolde-Pate Ward, Yola South LGA,
Adamawa state

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