By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has said that there is no better alternative to democracy as a form of government that gives the people the right to choose who to govern them and how they want to be governed.
To this end, the governor attributed his re-election in the 2023 general elections to the testimony of the confidence reposed on his administration by the electorate in Bauchi State.
The governor said on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the country’s return to democratic rule that, “I want to state that during our first term in office, we performed creditably in various spheres of human endeavour.”
Mohammed explained that his performance during the period under review ranges from construction of roads in both urban and rural areas, construction and rehabilitation of schools and health facilities, water supply, supply of agricultural inputs and machineries.
He also enumerated human capital development through economic empowerment as part of the initiatives of the state government, assuring however that, “We will not only sustain the tempo during our second tenure but will strive to improve upon our performance.”
The governor said that the various projects his administration executed during its first term were in line with “My Bauchi Project,” a blueprint that was developed even before his election in 2019.
“In order to improve on our performance during our first term, a technical committee was constituted to review the blueprint with a view to assessing the level of delivery of dividends of democracy and recommend how to address any grey areas and the way forward.
“Our second tenure is witnessing aggressive execution of life touching projects across the state. While completing all ongoing projects, new ones have been embarked upon. Security is also on our priority list. We would continue to collaborate with and support security agencies to rid the state of crime and criminal elements”.
He however, said that the state government depends almost entirely on funds from the Federation Account as its source of revenue, stressing “Due to uncertainty in the global oil market, there is the need for us to look inwards to diversify our economy.
“Government would also continue to provide enabling environment to facilitate the ease of doing business for the establishment of new commercial enterprises and improve the existing ones. Small and medium enterprises would also be supported to thrive.
“The resources at our disposal would continue to be judiciously used for the common good of the people of the State. We would continue to ensure value for money for the projects that would be executed. The resources we have would be deployed for maximal effect on the socio-economic development of the state”.
Describing the removal of fuel subsidy as a national problem, the governor assured of the federal and state governments’ collaboration of taking appropriate measures by providing palliatives in form of food and non food items to bring succour to the people, and bring the hardship to an end.
