Adamu Waziri goofed about developments in Yobe – Ba’ale

Bashir Bukar Ba’ale is Chairman of a youth organisation, Yobe Youth Awareness Forum which is focussed on mobilising youth for greater participation in society and civic life. In this interview with BLUEPRINT, he speaks about the state of social and infrastructural developments in Yobe and argues that a PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Adamu Maina Waziri did not get his facts right about the state of development in Yobe State

 

What’s your organisation specifically concerned about with regards to youth issues in Yobe state?
We are a youth group focussing on mobilising and encouraging our youths to participate actively in civic life and organise around the objectives of peace and security and social development.
We are young and new but we are making progress. The youth in Yobe are some of the most active. We participate in many social events within and outside the state and we intend to use such forums to advance our ideas for greater participation.

How can you rate the level at which the government in Yobe State handles issues that affect youth development?
Well, there are challenges all over the country when it comes to actively engaging youths by the government. But we are pleased with the efforts of the Yobe State Government in terms of youth empowerment. Over the last two years, the State Government has done a lot to provide a sense of belonging to the youths through direct employment and provision of opportunities for many youths to stand on their feet.
I can remember sometime in 2012, over 7, 000 Diploma holders were recruited into a youth empowerment scheme where they are paid N15, 000 per month. They are now clocking two years under this scheme. At the same time there are over 3, 000 graduates and HND and NCE holders who were given permanent and pensionable appointments.
These are good steps, no doubt, towards youth empowerment. But we have thousands of other youths who are not holders of formal school certificates and who needed support too. I am happy to note that over 30, 000 of such category of youths were also engaged in an agricultural empowerment programme and some of them were sponsored to acquire skills in knitting, carpentry, hair plaiting, etc. I was personally a witness to the kind of support that such youths were provided with, after completing their skills training. The government normally gives them the tools they need to go and set up their own businesses.

But in a recent interview with a newspaper, a gubernatorial aspirant Adamu Maina Waziri has said that joblessness among youth is part of the reason behind Boko Haram and that the state governments in the Northeast are to blame. What do you say to that?
Well, Waziri was at NAPEP and PTDF before, himself. What did he do to youths, because these social problems did not just begin today or yesterday? They have pestered for years. Let’s be honest – the governments in the Northeast are doing their best. At least I can vouch for the Yobe State Government because I live in Yobe. I am a witness to history.
I have read the interview you are referring to, which was posted online. Waziri does not have the facts right. For example, while comparing some neighbouring states such as Jigawa with Yobe, he spoke about a building called Jigawa State Television in Dutse and said there is nothing like that in Yobe. How can you take such a person serious? Waziri had granted several interviews to the Yobe State TV called YTV in Damaturu. So, how can he ever say that there is no State TV in Yobe? It’s sad that because of politics, someone like Waziri will throw decorum to the winds and just say anything because he wants to become governor. I feel he should be able to rise above being economical with the truth.

Yes, but let’s come to specifics. He was not just talking about State TV. He was talking about development generally…
Waziri has goofed serially before and he has goofed even more in that recent interview. Each State has its peculiarities but in all the key indices of development, the Yobe State Government is doing commendably well.
Let’s take water supply as an example. Throughout Yobe today, a majority of the community has access to potable supply. There was a lot of funding that went into drilling of boreholes and wells and hand pumps in villages and towns throughout the State. We are also aware that the African Development Bank and Japanese Government have invested substantially in water supply in Yobe. When you go to roads development, there is no state in the Northeast that has done as much as the Yobe State Government has done. Major road projects have been undertaken and we, who are living inside Yobe, are seeing those roads every day and plying them.

Can you mention some of them that exist physically?
There are many. But let me mention just some. Throughout Damaturu town, the Geidam administration has constructed township roads all over. The same thing was done in Potiskum town, Gashuwa, Nguru and Geidam. Also, the Potiskuk-Garin Alkali road has been completed. I am also aware of the Maiduwa-Gadaka road and Gadaka-Godowoli. I know that the Potiskum-Dancuwa road has been completed and also completed is the Gashu’a-Yusufari road and Jajimaji-Karasuwa as well as Bayamari-Yunusari. There is also the Kaliyari-Bayamari road. All these roads have been built or totally rebuilt by the Geidam government.
And if we move to other sectors such as healthcare and education, Yobe Government is doing a lot under very difficult circumstances. Did you ever wonder why more doctors and nurses are coming to Yobe to work despite the security situation? It means that the government has put something in place to attract and retain those doctors. I may not have all the details, as an observer, but I can tell you that the healthcare sector is getting better with a qualified medical doctor as a Health Commissioner. There is massive turnaround of the State Specialist Hospital and new structures being built for doctors, nurses and patients. There is also a free drugs policy for pregnant women and children which is helping to attract more women to go seek for medical attention especially during childbirth, thereby reducing the rate of maternal and child mortality.
So, honestly speaking the Yobe State Government is trying. People like Waziri have been saying the same thing they are saying for years. I think they are just serial complainants who come around every election season, make some noise and then wait for the spoils at the federal level after election.

Then what can you say about the claim that Yobe students have not done well in NECO last year?
I am sure Waziri was intent on misleading his readers. Did you forget the chronic insurgency problem we have had in Yobe over the last two to three years? Only last Monday, scores of students were killed at a school in Potiskum. There were terrible and brutal attacks on our schools across Yobe over the last three years from Mamudo to Buni Yadi. Those attacks seriously affected the performance of both staff and students. Why can’t Adamu Waziri admit the fact that the problem was caused by insecurity? I think he just wanted to mislead and score cheap political points. Otherwise the Yobe State Government should be commended for rebuilding destroyed schools, providing more teaching and learning materials and recruiting many new teachers in our schools.
Our primary and secondary schools are being continuously retrofitted even though the State Government has to divert so many millions of naira to help the security agencies operating in the State. And I hope you know that our state university is described as the fastest growing university in the north.

So, are you saying that Waziri was just talking politics?
Of course, that’s exactly what I am saying. It is cheap politics through and through. Yobe has made and continues to make significant progress in key social indicators and we the people living inside the State know that very well.
And the most important thing to remember is that these things are going under a terrible security environment but yet the government is still able to deliver. Why didn’t Waziri tell us why the federal government under his own party fails to help the youth in the Northeast? What has the federal government done to assist displaced people apart from a few bags of grains? Why has the government formed by his own Party failed to stop the insurgency? Our people are now helping themselves through Civilian JTF and hunters and vigilantes. Is it not a shame on the part of the federal government? In fact, we youth are tired the way and manner people like Waziri are coming to make noise – when they haven’t done anything themselves – while holding government positions, to help us at all. They should know that we are not fools.