Re: Niger State: Where Billboards Supplant Dividends Of Democracy

In “Niger State: Where Billboards Supplant Dividends of Democracy” written by Abdulkadir Isa and published in Peoples Daily of Tuesday, December 25, 2012, the author wrote a feature article that was dripping with bias and misinformation from the beginning to the end. There was no doubt that the author was out to do a hatchet job for his pay masters who are too blind to see the immense contributions of the administration of Chief Servant Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,  to the development of the state since May 29, 2007.

In a modern world where politics are driven by the media and the most successful politicians are those who are media savvy, like President Barack Obama of the United States and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, the author tries to ridicule the governor for his ever media presence. In the United States, Barack Obama spent $745million to be elected president in 2008 and for his reelection campaign in 2012 he got close to a $1billion and most of that spent on the media. The Republican Party on the other hand spent $800million to stop Obama’s re-election bid. Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu is so intellectually endowed, that he cannot  be media shy. Actually it is those who are empty and has nothing to say that are media shy. Aliyu’s intellectual mien makes him, a reporter’s delight especially for those reporters that know their onions. So for Abdulkadir Isa and “senior colleague Hannatu Musawa” to describe Aliyu “ as a man ‘suffering from diarrhea of the mouth’”, apparently because of his media visibility and often boisterous comments on regional and national issues, is an insult to journalism profession that itself survives by providing platform for the cross fertilization of ideas. Besides, as the chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum(NSGF),since 2007, Aliyu is the face of the North with all of its developmental and security challenges, which confers on him higher media visibility and access than any other Northern Governor since 2007. At home and abroad anytime the issue dwells on Northern development, Aliyu’s views are sort, as one of the preeminent leaders of the region.

And Aliyu does not only talk the talk, he also walk the talk and it is therefore uncharitable to claim that in over five years of the Chief Servant’s administration of Niger State, all he had to show for it are billboards, yet this was a man that was overwhelmingly reelected in 2011 by Nigerlites.

While trying to portray the Chief Servant, who is also the Talba Minna, as a leader who has neglected the agricultural sector, Isa wrote, ”The state also has the largest  concentration of Shea butter trees, Moringa plant and thousands of acres of swampy areas suitable for rice and sugar cane cultivation as well as fish farming”. If the author’s mission was not to misinform and perhaps malign the Chief Servant, a little journalistic inquiry would have revealed to him that under the leadership of Aliyu, Niger State has consistently emerged the country’s largest producer of rice.
Recently, Aliyu organized a National Shea Butter Conference and Exhibition in Minna where he maintained that agro products remain the nucleus of the vision of the state to be one of the three top economies in the country.
He said the theme of the conference, “Shea The Hidden Treasure” was apt because of the renewed determination by his administration to strengthen the economic base of the state through the abundant shea nuts in the state.
According to him “the theme is very appropriate and significant considering our desire to achieve socio-economic development using agro allied industries as premium vehicle for the industrial development of our state”. So much for a governor that ignores the economic potential of shea butter in his state.

Isa also wants the world to believe that Governor Aliyu has been neglecting the tourism sector in the state, but nothing could be more further from the truth, as he has done a lot to promote the sector including the development of Gurara Waterfalls which Isa mentioned among the potential tourism havens in the state. Aliyu has not only built a road to link the Gurara Waterfalls Resort, his administration has entered into a Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement to turn it into a viable revenue earner for the state. The strategic development of the Tourism and Culture sector is one of the key ways the governor is using to boost the revenue base of the state. Through the PPP model, the state government is pursuing the execution of the following projects: the Zuma Rock Tourist Resort Village; Suleja Twin City Development; Zungeru Colonial Ruins Development Project; and the Gurara Water Falls Resort.

“It is amazing that the Chief Servant, who regularly uses the Minna-Suleja road to and fro Abuja to mop the monthly federal allocation, never seem embarrassed by the grave-sized potholes that ‘decorate’ the length of the road. The Suleja road is just one of the many infrastructures crying for the Chief Servant to redefine his idea of development”, writes Isa. While noting that Aliyu goes to Abuja through Suleja road, Isa conveniently failed to reveal that Niger State receives one of the least federal allocations for a state of its size and population: Niger State is the largest state in the country. With its meager allocation, it is preposterous to expect it to use its resources to rebuild the Suleja-Minna road that is a federal road. Of course one is not unaware of the fact that some states, especially in the South-South; for obvious reasons,  have gone out of their way to rebuild or rehabilitate federal roads hoping for a refund later by the federal government, but Niger State cannot afford such luxury. In any case the road in question is already being expanded by the federal government and if the author had visited the state, he would have noticed that work is ongoing from the Maje end of the road at Suleja. If Isa is so concerned about the road, he should put his energy to work by pressurizing the federal government to make the contractors to expedite action on the road.  But no one can deny the fact that nationwide most federal roads are in deplorable conditions due to many years of neglect.

The chief Servant has done a lot given the resources of the state to facilitate the infrastructural development of the state and there are not enough billboards to announce them to the doubting Thomases. 

In the effort to reduce the housing deficit in the state, the state government embarked on construction of 500 units  General Wushishi housing estate Minna, 500 unit Talba housing estate, 250 unit Aliyu Makama estates in Bida; 250 unit Sani Bello housing estate kontagora and 500 unit housing estate in Suleja. 

        Already the government has constructed and commissioned the 500 unit General Wushishi housing estate at Minna.

       

In the education sector, it is the policy of the administration to settle NECO and WAEC exam fees for all students in public schools irrespective of state of origin. He capped this with the introduction of free primary and secondary education for all residents of Niger State, also irrespective of state of origin.

        Other measures taken to reposition education in the state include construction of students’ hostels at the state college of Education (CDE), Minna; provision of over 15,000 set of school furniture for pupils/ students and over 1500 teachers recruited to boost education, while the morale of non-indigenous teachers was boosted by the removal of contract appointments for them, as they were given permanent and pensionable appointment. There is not enough space to itemize the achievements of the Chief Servant but any unbiased assessor will acknowledge the fact that Aliyu has done well. Thanks to the tenacity of the Chief Servant, Niger State will soon join the league of oil producing states in the country, as the government’s sponsored effort has led to the discovery of oil at commercial quantity. This will no doubt led to a quantum leap in internally generated revenue that will boost the state’s economy and improve the standard of living of the people.

As for Isa’s insinuation that, ”Talba’s alleged dream for a future national assignment isn’t going to be merry-go-round as usual”. Sorry to disappoint you, as there is substance and genuine need of the Chief Servant at the national stage. Those of us who have been observing him from afar and have noted his leadership qualities want him in Abuja, after he finished with his mandate in Minna. In 2015, the country does not need an ethnic or religious bigot as President. What this country needs is a leader who will be fair to all Nigerians irrespective of ethnic and religious differences. And when you are looking for a leader who will lead in 2015 with the fear of God and who will be fair to all Nigerians in his decisions, look no further than, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu.