In this report, MUAZU ABARI writes on how Gov Fintiri succeeded in changing the face of education in Adamawa state in less than two years leading to an award.
Adamawa state is home to so many educated elites, prominent sons and daughters of repute who have made their marks in socio-economic and political arena of the country among other fields of human endeavours; unfortunately, for years, the state never had the opportunity of having a university graduate as governor until recently.Although in 1999, providence thrust the governance of the state in the hands of Boni Haruna, a graduate of Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, the first graduate to emerge as governor since creation; however, since then, the state never had the opportunity to produce a certified university graduate as governor until 2019 when the people of Adamawa state elected Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, a graduate of History from the University of Maiduguri as their governor.
Investigation by Blueprint about the consequences of having a non-graduate at the helms of affairs of an elite state like Adamawa smacks of complete neglect of education sector which has continued to experienced its worst moments due to inability to list the sector among priority areas. This no doubt left a sour taste in the sector.Undoubtedly, the administration of Boni Haruna did well for the education sector by laying a solid foundation for the educational development of the state which was consolidated by Nyako who despite not passing through conventional university succeeded in taking the sector further; unfortunately, the gains recorded during Nyako’s administration have not only been sustained but completely bastardised until Gov Fintiri assumed office.No wonder, being educated, intelligent, vibrant and a grassroot politician who passed through the four walls of a university, he knows and appreciates the value of education in the socio-economic development of the society. He therefore not only identified education sector as a top priority of his administration as second to security, but also made education the centre-piece of his administration’s policies and programmes; hence his decision to invest massively in the sector in order to make Adamawa work again and expand the horizon of good governance and accountable leadership in the state anchored on his 11-point agenda.
His social contract with the people
As promised in his inagural speech, he said, “As a government of popular consent, I am mindful of the honour and the responsibility this have bestowed on me. I hereby declare that hope has been restored and true change has come to Adamawa state. Let us embrace it as I solemnly pleadge to provide leadership that is required to make this change work for the good of all.”It would be a change that balances policy and politics. “A change that would eschew might over rights and treat all citizens as equal, a transformational change that would harness the vast human potentials of the people into attaining and enjoying the dividents of democracy which have so far eluded us,” he had said.
On his administration’s development agenda for the people of Adamawa, Fintiri further noted that, “On my watch, security of lives and proparty shall be the primary responsibility of government while the rights of citizens, justice, equity, merit, competent and deligence shall prevail. We shall improve the lots of Adamawa state workers and pensioners and free them from the fear of victimisation, pangs of injustice and abuses, all the direct result of bad governance and decision.”We will systematically work urgently on resustaining the health sector and break the jinx of poor educational excellence by investing in teachers’ welfare, trainings and infrastructures. We would revive primary health care for children, empower our women and grant them easy access to effective medical services.”
Hitting the ground running
With this commitment Gov Fintiri swung into action to fulfil his promises to the people. In less than two years of his steadwardship amidst limited resources, intimidating debt profile and battered economy that depended solely on federal allocations and poor internally-generated revenue, Fintiri succeeded in changing the face of education in Adamawa with so many successes recorded.Fir instance, he started his educational revolution with the implementation of free education in all public schools across the state from primary to secondary schools. This removed financial burdens from parents and encouraged massive enrolments into schools.It was immediately followed with the introduction of school feeding programmes in public schools across the state and payment of WAEC/NECO and other forms of national examinations. Here, over 27,894 Adamawa students benefited within this short period in office.Fintiri did not stop at that, but also settled the #1.2 bn counterpart fund to Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) which was not paid by previous administrations. This enabled his administration to access #10bn which was injected into massive rehabilitations and renovations of schools across the length and breath of the state in line with his administration’s commitments to rehabilitate 5,000 schools.
The Fintiri-led administration also gave scholarship awards to over 5,000 Adamawa students schooling in various tertiary institutions across the country, a payment last made during Nyako’s administration. This time around, it was paid directly into the bank accounts of students as well as grant of foreign scholarship to some brilliant Adamawa students to study in various specialised fields abroad in line with the demands of the state.Other achievements of the administration in the sector can be seen in the area of ongoing recruitment of 2,000 teachers, engagement of consultants to map out requirement for the renovations and equipping of existing secondary schools and constructions of new ones, increasing the retirement age of teachers from 35 to 40 years before the federal government adopted the same model, among many other efforts.
The award on education
It is therefore not surprising that the education revolution embarked upon by Fintiri’s administration and the successes recorded have caught the attention of the world making him a golden fish that have no hidden place. This prompted Business Day Newspaper to bestowed on him the prestigious award of the Best Governor on Educational Development in Nigeria beating more educationally-advantaged states like Lagos and others.This award is coming barely one year after the governor received another prestigious award from Leadership Newspapers in 2019 for his infrastructural wonders in the state. This latest award is seen in most quarters as a reward for excellence, hardwork and foresight which would propel him to do more.The decision by the newspapers to bestow this award is contained in a letter which reads, “We would like to inform your Excellency that you have been nominated for the most improved state in education award. The improved business environment in Adamawa state has attracted quite a number of agricultural investments into your state.”
An appreciative Fintiri speaks
Accepting this nomination, Gov Fintiri commended the newspaper at bringing about healthy competition among the sub national governments in Nigeria with the view to encouraging state governors to explore their richly-endowed human capital, natural and agricultural resources, adding that it would encourage him to do more for the people.”I accept this nomination as it would propel me and the entire team to continuously make a difference in governance. We had to take hard decision which is in the overall interest of our state and that of our children. The award has actually come to me as a surprise but I’m glad my humble contributions to the development of the education sector was informed by my desire to pull out the state from its doldrums and place Adamawa among the top states.”Most of the people who commented over this development congratulates the governor and the people of the state for this break- through and urged him to continue with his efforts at revamping the sector in order to restore the lost glory of Adamawa in all sectors in line with his 11 point development agenda.
