It’s victory at last for the new governor-elect of Gombe state as he prepares to be inaugurated in less than two months. AUWAL AHMAD writes on the expectations.
Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya the Gombe state governor-elect, who has been contesting for the coveted seat since 2011, has finally won the election. It was a keenly contested election between him, the flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC), who polled a total of 364,179 votes to defeat his main rival, Senator Usman Bayero Nafada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored a total of 222,868 votes.
In 2011, Inuwa contested against Hassan Dankwambo under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but was defeated at the party’s primaries. In 2015, he also contested against Dankwambo, this time on APC platform but lost to the incumbent. It is therefore on record that Inuwa has been defeated by Dankwambo for the seat of Gombe state the Government House twice.
As the saying goes that through perseverance, the door shall be opened, that could be the magic wand that worked for the governor-elect. This is because despite those struggles, he did not give up the fight. Interestingly, this time around, he was able to realise his long-time dream of becoming the governor of the state.
Now that he is able to realise the long-time dream, the challenges before him are enormous and require uncommon determination to confront them squarely. Investigation by Blueprint from some individuals in Gombe politics indicates that Inuwa is determined and ready to confront them head on.
According to Danladi Magaji, an APC member in the state, “As a commissioner for finance for seven years under the Goje administration, Inuwa is well informed about the challenges confronting Gombe people and he is equal to the tasks. But there are issues of which if not addressed, the people’s hope and aspirations may not be met easily.”
In the run up to the election, investigation reveals that almost all the movers and shakers of Gombe politics teamed up with Inuwa to fight Dankwambo squarely. Some did that openly while others did it under a cover just to make sure that Dankwambo’s chosen candidate is defeated. That has happened and what is left for him is to face the challenges of meeting the yearning and aspirations of the people.
The serious challenge before Inuwa’s government in Gombe at the moment is how to accommodate all the individuals and groups that helped him to defeat Nafada. This is because politicians hardly invest where their interests are not protected and defended. Some are of the opinion that Inuwa may not possess the capacity to handle these people. To this group of politicians, the governor-elect appears too slow and as such may not be rugged like Dankwambo and Goje. To the other group, the governor-elect is capable of facing the problems fronting the state head on because he has shown this as commissioner for finance under Goje where he was able to prove his mettle.
Issues
For the over 20 years existence of Gombe as a state, the issue of portable water supply has not been met. “Water has been the major problem of Gombe state and 20 years after, the issue has not been solved once and for all. And to add to water, the issue of power supply is also confronting this fast growing city in the north eastern region. These are the two serious issues that need immediate solution and the people of Gombe will be happier if Inuwa will address them in his two years in office,” said Magaji.
Another area of concern to the people of Gombe, which the outgoing administration of Dankwambo neglected in his eight years in office, is the issue of human capital development. This is one factor which Gombe people are not happy with the leadership style of Dankwambo.
Throughout the years of Dankwambo as governor, he did not pay attention to human development but he has achieved a lot in the area of infrastructural development of the state by building roads and schools which will stand the test of time. Analysts are of the opinion that local contractors were not patronised and that resulted in what the economists called capital flight. That is to say money that was supposed to be spent in Gombe were taken elsewhere thereby leaving the people in object poverty even though there are beautiful roads within the state capital.
The general consensus of opinion is that, “Dankwambo build schools but forgot to develop the human capital being that will man those schools.”
Education is the bed rock of any meaningful development. Gombe people are of the opinion that incoming administration should focus attention on that sector and provide the needful.
One other issue that also need to be looked into with a view to reviewing it are the tertiary institutions established by Dankwambo which analysts say the revenue that accrue to the state cannot sustain considering the internally generated revenue (IGR). Such like the University of Science and Technology, College of Education Billiri, College of Legal and Islamic studies Nafada, College of Nursing and Midwifery and the state polytechnic at Bajoga. Analysts say these are institutions established by Dankwambo for his political reason but not in the best interest of the people.
“There is an urgent need by the incoming administration of Inuwa to address the lingering problem of education in the state for Gombe to take its rightful position among other states in the country. There is need for total overhauling of the sector and this should be done without bias or political affiliation.”
A critical look of the distribution of infrastructure in Dankwambo’s eight years in office shows that the northern part of the state is being neglected. This is because a careful search reveals that most of the infrastructures build or established by Dankwambo are either in Gombe metropolis or in the southern part of the state at the expense of the northern part. Unlike Gombe South, a journey to Dukku from Gombe and from Gombe to Nafada is a trip that one will not like to re-embark despite the fact that it is his senatorial district. That is why the people of Gombe north never wanted him to be their senator. Inuwa needs to pay attention to the area, having waited for too long.
In an interview with newsmen in Gombe immediately after the election, Inuwa said, “Going by the way Gombe was mismanaged in the last eight years of Dankwambo administration, I will like to believe that all facets of development particularly the issues of education, health, agriculture, security, rural development if well addressed will help to uplift the people out of their present bondage and servitude.”
He said he would pay attention to the development of rural areas which he believes would bring the state out of the shackles of underdevelopment and take it to the next level of modern development.
On water supply which has been the problem affecting the people of Gombe metropolis, Inuwa said the capacity of Gombe regional water scheme is not enough, saying, “We will work to improve on the 50 million litres”.
