By
The taste of the pudding, they say, is in the eating and I really got more than a mouthful of the tasty Gombe pudding on my trip to attend the 1ST GOMBE INVESTMENT SUMMIT 2022 launched by Governor lnuwa Yahaya of Gombe State so that foreign and local investors can partner with the state government to invest in the prodigious human, material and natural resources that abound in the north-eastern state.
So, my journey took me from Silicon Valley, California to Gombe City to assess the viability of establishing a high tech I.T. factory to produce and assemble computers, laptops and accessories for a major telecommunications firm based in the United States.
The location of the factory is premised on the sprawling GOMBE INDUSTRIAL PARK currently under construction by the state government and I was on flight about to disembark, I ruminated on the bureaucratic hurdles, lethargy and procrastination that were the bane of foreign investors to most parts of Africa, Nigeria inclusive.
I had made up my mind that if the process of registration for a license to operate was as cumbersome as I was made to believe, I will board the next available flight back. The flight aboard an Air Peace plane was comfortable enough and on leaving the airport in a taxi, I expected to see the usual hustle and bustle that one usually hears of in African cities, bad roads, traffic jams, corrupt or indifferent cops on the streets and general pandemonium everywhere.
However, I was in for a pleasant surprise as the streets and roads of Gombe City were well tarred and in very good condition, traffic was moving smoothly and a lot of modern, tastefully designed houses and structures lined the expressway to our accommodation at New GRA in the State capital.
When I commented to our host about the good roads, structures and estates I observed on the way, he told me that it was the handiwork of the incumbent governor, Inuwa Yahaya, a professional accountant and leading political figure in the state for quite some time.
When I expressed some surprise that an accountant would be so versed in administrative governance, my expatriate host who has lived in Gombe State for years told me that Governor Yahaya had served in the past as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development and many of the projects executed during that era were as a result of his fiscal probity and unrelenting financial prudence ensuring that all disbursed funds were appropriately channelled to avoid fraud, waste or mismanagement.
Later, when I commented on the taps running with clean water, my host drew me to Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s revolution in pipeborne water delivery with his drastic overhaul of the Gombe Water Board management resulting in adequate water supply throughout Gombe City and other towns and villages in the state, a development unprecedented in the years before the governor assumed office.
The next day as we went from the state Ministry of Trade and Investment to the Ministry of Finance, the Inland Revenue Service and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to process the relevant reregistration documents, my joy knew no bounds as there was little or no bureaucratic hassle. Each ministry or establishment had only one desk that handled our details; speedy, efficient and responsive service delivery at its best.
As usual my host was on hand to explain to me that Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s reform of the civil and public service had placed Gombe State at the cutting edge of innovative and accelerated service delivery to the extent that it was ranked as No 1 in the Ease of Doing Business Index in Nigeria besting 35 other states to clinch the exalted position.
Indeed from the seamless and stress free process I encountered at the Gombe state bureaucracy and the state of the art infrastructure, good road network, efficient health system, good airport and the beautiful Gombe State University teeming with young talented IT savvy minds, tourism sites in a natural environment teeming with rare and exotic flora and fauna, l make bold to state that Gombe State under the resourceful, dynamic and innovative leadership of Governor Inuwa Yahaya remains irrefutably the No 1 Destination for Tourism and Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa at large.
Thus, l have duly recommended that my company as well as other foreign and local firms, lT companies, industries and manufacturing concerns touch base to massively invest in the state. As far as Gombe State is concerned, there is no contest and no rival now and in the forseeable future.
– Donaldson is an investment consultant for Silicon Valley Telecommunications Conglomerate based in California, United States of America.
