Re: Al-Makura and the future of Nasarawa state

By Rabiu Garba

In a subjective piece, “Al-Makura and the Future of Nasarawa State” published in Blueprint of Thursday, September 18, 2014, Abdullahi Ubandoma Esq, lamented the inability of the state in meeting the expectations of its founding fathers. Instead of facing the granite truth on why the state has not lived up to expectation, the author, a two-time governor of the state and now senator, decided to attribute it to the immediate leadership of the state under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
For the author to declare that “Governor Al-Makura has provided the panacea to (the) state’s development through his leadership qualities and towering political figure,’’ is indeed tragic. It beggars belief that a state whacked silly by staggering communal crisis of epic proportions and whose development has been arrested or stymied is being celebrated by Ubandoma, a supposedly learned fellow. How sad!
Ubandoma wrote that: “as leaders who were given a chance to serve but woefully failed to act decently, they abruptly metamorphosed into political critics and resurrected a brand name to deceive, destabilize and confuse the people in order to revive their diminished personalities and relevance. In the past, there were no good roads network, no structures to match a befitting state capital, no standard hospitals and educational standard was failing….’’ Nothing can be farther from the truth!
For the avoidance of doubts and to put a pin into the author’s claims, it is necessary that we set the records straight here by briefly outlining some of the achievements of the immediate past PDP administration in the state from 2007 to 2011.
If PDP has not done for the state, at least, its 2007-2011 administration has left a spectacular legacy of achievements in the following areas: re-engineering of agricultural sector through ‘Badakoshi Programme; Construction of 500 housing units; establishment of drug revolving scheme; payment of encumbrances and loans for Karu International Market; conversion of vocational and relevant technical centres to full-fledged Skills Acquisition Centres in Doma, Lafia, Nasarawa and Wamba; reconstruction and rehabilitation of State House of Assembly; recruitment of 1,600 teachers and promotion of 1,900 of them; procurement of 20 numbers 500KVA transformers and payment of severance package to political office holders—Chairmen and councilors- during Adamu Abdullahi administration, something the incumbent administration has not been able to do.
Other fundamental achievements of that administration include: construction/rehabilitation of several bridges/roads, including Goto-Bagana bridge; Doma-Akpata-Benue border rd; Doma-Okpatta rd; Toto-Umaisha; Panda-Kigwari-Karu; Keffi-Kokona-Agwada-Udege; Doma-Agyaragu-Kadarko-Giza-Agaza-Agwatashi-Obi-Assakio; Nasarawa Mada Station to mention just a few due to space and time constraints.
The writer was simply being economical with the truth when he accused past administrators of the state of oiling their pockets and praising the incumbent governor to high Heavens for addressing their FAILURES (emphasis mine) in “terms of jobs creation, good governance and standards’’. The writer advised the opposition to appreciate the present administration’s “remarkable success so far in curbing poverty, unemployment, provision of basic infrastructures and directing all energies to address the socio-economic challenges….” This is an affront on the sensibilities of all well-meaning people of the state.
Another area where Ubandoma missed the point is his assertion that the “plight of the people at the grassroots level have been squarely addressed. The people and indigenes of Nasarawa State have come to identify with the present administration based on the governor’s dynamism and purposeful leadership.’’ Purposeful leadership ko! Myopic leadership ni!
From the beginning of the publication to the end, Ubandoma’s attempt to denigrate the opposition PDP in the state ended up in futility. The author and others like him can continue to delude themselves into believing that the Al-Makura government is impregnable, but they must be reminded that denouement will certainly come for the administration in 2015.

Garba wrote from Abuja