One of the distinctive characteristics of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaha of Gombe State is his high mobility quotient. He is not an arm-chair administrator who sits in his comfort zone hoping to get things done from the confines and conviviality of the Government House. He is a field man par excellence. He moves a lot to move his State progressively in quantum leaps, and Gombe State is actually having great results to show for his tireless efforts.
It is in the light of the above that one views Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s recent visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
A man of many brilliant ideas, Inuwa Yahaya, who is also the Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, not only brought Mr. President up to speed with the huge developments taking place in Gombe State, since he became Governor, but equally tabled the Northern Nigeria’s challenges and development agenda before the commander-in- chief.
One of the media headlines that followed his timely visit to Mr.President was his call for intesified collaboration on development projects between the federal and state governments towards bettering the lot of citizens, saying, doing so will help a great deal in achieving development in all sectors.
He said, while interacting with State House Correspondents, that, “Collaboration of the states and the federal government; infact including the local governments is very key and fundamental for us because if there is any disconnect, we may not deliver on what we have to do for the people” .
The 4 times Governor of the Year award winner assured Mr. President that that his government is ready to put more words into action in order to bring about faster development.
Elucidating about Gombe State’s previous collaboration with the federal government, the Governor pointed out that, “There were several engagements between us towards the end of 2023 particularly pertaining healthcare and enabling business environment reforms and many more. Without the economy picking and doing well, we will continuously be where we are or even worst off.
Having played a major role in food security issues in the last administration, especially in solving the farmer-herder clashes, he briefed his host of the template Gombe has deployed to forestall the issues and how harvest time has been peaceful and trouble free. Gombe State created a stop gap for migration of cattles and other animals a month before harvest time.The State engages in a lot of enlightenment campaigns and it is reaping remarkable benefit.
Recall that Governor Inuwa had solicited the partnership of the Agro-Rangers Corps of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in protection of farmers at harvest time. He actually visited the Corps Headquarters where he tabled his urgent need to protect farmers and their harvests.The Commandant General promptly granted his request.And the State enjoyed a beautiful harvest.
Commenting further on the importance of agriculture to human development and attaining food sufficiency, the Governor said there is need for farmers to embrace modern techniques in order to boost their production.
“The way it is now, people have to understand that we must modernise. There is need for machine tools, there is need for processing and luckily Gombe is among the States that have been approved to be part of the Special Agric Processing Zones.
“We have set up an industrial park where we can process all the raw materials or the agricultural produce that we have in the State. I think if all States will key-in and work in tandem and work with the federal government, we shall easily reach the desired destination for Nigeria,” he added.
Security was on the mind of the Northern Governors’ Forum Chairman. He commented on security challenges troubling some parts of the country.
“In my capacity as the Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, I praise the steps taken by the President in order to get to the root of what happened in Kaduna and Plateau States and the pledge he made that the right action would be taken to prevent future occurrences of those incidents. Above all, I thank him for the support given to victims or survivors,” the Governor stated.
While commiserating with those who lost their loved ones, Inuwa Yahaya called for love and peaceful coexistence.”We should imbibe the habit of loving one another and living in peace for the progress of all of us”.
One of the behind the door gains of the visit to the Villa is the support for the Greater Gombe Agenda. Recall that in his previous visits to the Villa, he was able to get the federal government to formally commission for use, the 40MW Dadinkowa Hydroelectricity Power Plant which had been moribund for over forty years.The importance of the project to the industrialization of Gombe State cannot be overemphasized.
The 1000-hectare Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park located near the Dadinkowa Power Plant is hugely strategic and catalytic to Gombe State’s socio-economic development. The State needs more federal government support for the successful implementation of its 10-year development plan, the first in the history of the State.
Since it is a new administration though under the same party, it is in order to put on the table issues that require the federal might to see it to completion.
The Kolmani Integrated Development Project was also a key issue which must have been privately discussed in view of its overall impact on the socio-economic growth of Gombe State, the North and indeed the nation. Striking oil has concomitant effects on both the psyche of the citizens as well as environmental impacts. A good support must have been secured by Governor Inuwa Yahaya for a proper consolidation of the gains made during the previous administration.
Governor Inuwa also used the visit to PBAT to present to the President his First Term Scorecard which chronicled the achievements of the Inuwa-led administration between 2019-2023 vis-a-vis the campaign manifestos.
In making the presentation, Inuwa must have brought to the attention of Mr.President how Gombe has won the Best State in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria back to back in the last two years. That in a way is to draw the President’s attention to the investment friendly environment available in Gombe State such that when it’s time to site big development projects, the state is good to go as a viable investment destination.
As the Chief Marketing Officer of his state,trust Inuwa Yahaya to remind Mr. President that Gombe has the largest grazing reserve in Africa and should be looked up to for the agro revolution food security and livestock which are already on the federal government’s agenda.
Visiting the President at this time of the year is tantamount to setting a good development foundation for his state.
It will therefore not be surprising if Gombe State win more awards in 2024 than it did in the previous years.The tune for a good year has already been set by the dynamic and highly pragmatic Governor of Gombe State via the visit to the Villa.
– Misilli is DG ( Press Affairs) Government House, Gombe
