By; MOHAMMED KAWU Bauchi
Some political gladiators and stakeholders in the Bauchi All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday, stormed the state’s north senatorial district where they made contacts among womenfolk from the seven local government areas comprising the district in an attempt to collectively along with the other two districts, woo the coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate to join the governorship race ahead of 2027 polls.
The group under the tutelage of a well-branded politician-cum party administrator, Haruna Abubakar, made contacts on some womenfolk across the north district that comprised Katagum, Shira, Jama’are, Gamawa, Zaki, Itas/Gadau and Giade local government areas preparatory for a mammoth march to woo the minister to join the race for elective office.
The group leader who holds the traditional title of Ajiyan Galambi in Bauchi LGA, expressed regrets that the state is now under a tyrannical rule of inhumane leadership that doesn’t care about the plight of citizens, whom he said, are now submerged into the caprices of hunger, disease and ignorance.
“In Bauchi State today, the health and education sectors have been bastardized by self-aggrandizement, with dearth of medical personnel and teachers, especially at the basic level, while the sectoral agriculture, commerce, and infrastructural provision are being used as conduit pipes to siphon public funds”, Haruna said.
Malam Haruna Abubakar therefore, commended the efforts of Health Minister, Pate in rescuing the situation, especially in the health sector not only in Bauchi State, but the country at large, when he recently preformed the ground breaking ceremony of ten health infrastructural projects across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, with Bauchi as the flag-off centre.
The projects entail undertaking an Oncology, Diagnostic and Catheterization Laboratory Expansion Programme with the objective of establishing 23 diagnostic centres, three oncology centres and seven catheterization, laboratories equitably distributed across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and the FCT.
The Health Minister had during the event in Bauchi, disclosed that the funds for the projects are already on ground, and will be completed within 12 to 18 months, stressing that such a conglomerate project execution has never happened in the political history of Nigeria.
Pate said during the occasion, “Mr. President has also undertaken the retraining of 120,000 health workers, with 10,000 already retrained across the country including Bauchi. He unlocks the healthcare value chains with many private sector actors coming to invest and produce things in our country”.
Ajiyan Galambi further revealed about the minister mooted plan to build a fully equipped comprehensive health centre in each of the 774 local government areas of the country, with the projects execution cost running into billion of naira already at hand.
Galambi who described Professor Mohammed Ali Pate as a patriotic Nigerian and versatile global figure, explained that Pate is presently receiving only about two percent as salary of the foreign job he left for the sake of serving his country and its people.
Haruna stated, “Minister Pate is now undertaking an expansion programme with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, establishing a teaching hospital with the Federal University of Medicine and Social Sciences, Azare, and building a new Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Misau”.
Malam Haruna Abubakar who stressed the need for change of guards at the Bauchi sub-national level, argued that if eventually Prof. Mohammed Pate assume the mantle of leadership of the state comes 2027, he would definitely change the state narratives where people generally will readily enjoy democracy dividends, unlike now when the reverse is the case.
Ajiya observed that womenfolk are more politically determined, promising and delivers when it comes to electoral processes, as they also massively canvass votes for candidates of their choices to the e-days, hence the first electoral charge.
He also recalled with dismay that that Bauchi has for the past five years deprived good democratic, inclusive, humane, supportive and economically empowering governance since the days of past yuguda administration in the state, and prayed for repeat of similarity.
