Gov Abubakar and the second term bid , — By SANI ABUBAKAR BAUCHI

It may look like the 2019 general election is far away, but the release of the elections time table by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) only points to the truism that the earlier the better.
To this end, both the serious and charlatan politicians and their supporters have gone to the drawing board to draft the next power grabbing game.
For the elected offi cials, they would be naïve to think the incumbent factor can rail road them to a second term; well it would be too much of carelessness to sit back and depend on that, so they would need to engage the seriousness of an aspirant who is fi ghting to unseat an incumbent elected offi cial.
Some elected public fi gures played to the gallery by turning back on the people who voted them in an election.
Th ey either become extremely inaccessible or leave their primary constituent domain and become Abuja politicians.
Th e resultant eff ect of this unwholesome practice is what has led to crisis in the nation’s political fi rmament and the various dare-devil thugs and cult groups we have today.
For Nigeria, it is more than a hard lesson, because it is not out of place to say that militancy in the South-south and Boko Haram in the North-east are all ugly products of such misadventures.
Th e people have become wiser in some ugly scenes we see, especially after the 2011 elections as well as how some politicians are either barred or stoned when they try to sneak into their localities.
Apparently, a good term appears to be what can guarantee the return or re-election of a governor, senator, member House of Representatives and state assemblies, among others.
Belonging to a politically party may not be good enough, and the Buhari sweeping spirit most likely would not work this time.
Little can political godfathers have a say now.
In fact, any aspirant in the 2019 general elections is just on his or her own.
In this regard, the electorate have become quite infl uential and discerning in their choice of leaders and they are ready to jettison the ambition of any politician who has failed to live up to expectation or has squandered his term of offi ce without any discernible benefi t for the people.
Th erefore, those who have sincerely and committedly delivered on their mandate will no doubt be hopeful for a second term, while those who have betrayed the people’s trust would be dropped like hot coals.
In all of these, where does Barrister Muhammed Abdullahi Abubakar, Governor of Bauchi State, stand? Indeed, this is an interesting question.
But the answers are not far-fetched.
He is a frontline politician and public funds manager who does not need sleepless nights or have any misgivings about the feelings of the electorate towards him if he was to return in 2019.
Th e worth of a man is determined by his antecedents.
Until 2015, he was such an unassuming barrister just going about his private life, but when fate smiled on him, Bauchi State people felt and said he is their governor.
And through the ballot box they made the statement resoundingly and categorically.
Th e state looks agrarian and rural – of course it is – but politically it is a banana republic.
No need to delve deeply into that aspect, but suffi ce to say that Governor Abubakar fell into the hot soup of political gangsterism, character assassination and back stabbing.
And the people were watching and taking note of all that had happened in that political hara-kiri.
After all that, he came out unscathed as if nothing ever happened.
Now, that is a man.
Governor Abubakar has gone to great lengths to deliver on his promises to the people.
.
On assumption of offi ce, he in principle made a pact with the Bauchi people that he’s going to tackle all the vagaries of administrative and bureaucratic hurdles that were hitherto militating against the smooth and seamless delivery of democratic dividends to them.
Rather than dissipating energy and government resources as usual and achieving nothing at the end, Governor Abubakar believed in identifying and dealing with whatever kind of challenges the state may face.
He believes that the way and manner an issue is tackled would determine its success or otherwise.
Today, in Bauchi, and for the fi rst time in history, the era of faded vouchers and ghost workers has been successfully eliminated and as the workers’ right: salaries and wages, among other welfare packages, are paid regularly.
Th is is not so even in states enjoying high fi nancial profi le.
Th is is in addition to off setting accumulated debts he inherited from the past administrations in the state.
Th e state would have been a top performer in agriculture but for the neglect of that sector for decades; the story is not a palatable one at all.
Governor Abubakar is repositioning that sector now by resuscitating the abandoned Bauchi State Fertilizer Company (BSFC) and fertilizer production and distribution to peasant farmers at a subsidized rate is done as at when due.
In the health sector, Governor Abubakar is determined to end the scourge of maternal and infant mortality once and for all and there has been accelerated training of nurses and midwives while hospital equipment and drugs are being supplied with the rehabilitation and construction of health and maternity centres across the state.
Health institutions are wearing a new look with the upgrading and accreditation of relevant courses to meet the required standards.
Indeed, Governor Abubakar has a score card to 2019 governorship election with confi dence.
Th e vast majority of Bauchi state citizens know the content of this score card, for it happened under their watch.
Abubakar writes from Bauchi

 

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