By Engr. Musa D. Balarabe
Just like the children with their simple dreams, the illusionary antics concocted in the dark alleys of the opposition’s dungeon of failures shall simply fade away and fall flat on the faces of whoever mooted this idea. And like some meaningless social media messengers, please disregard all the odious antics oozing out of the opposition.
Every success has its prize. Focus, doggedness, and a high level of concentration are hugely required by a man who is doing well and desires to end very well.
A man who means well for his state will not but have detractors and antagonists. No matter the spate of political rabble-rousing hauled at you, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, what is most pertinent is your unflinching commitment to the primary assignment of governance and wellbeing of the people you love so much. And have sacrificed so much for.
This one too will pass away. You are on the right lane and in the right place in history. Do not allow anything or anyone or any group to distract you. Permit me to share this little story my big man acquaintance once told me. He said his father told him of two rabbits who go out in search of food. One returns safely after getting done with the task of food hunting. The other got its food in and hears a noise nearby and decided to go to the other lane. There he met his waterloo. You will end well, no matter the noise, please stay on course.
That you have done so well for the people who have so much confidence in your leadership is not in doubt. All your achievements within three years of being the Governor of Gombe state are far from infinitesimal. This is not a time to start reeling out your achievements. They are all well chronicled in the archives of political historiographers. Your winning Man of the Year and Most Outstanding Governor of the year in a single month by well-respected mainstream media is no fluke in any material particular.
This moment is very crucial for focus and renewal of strength and strategies. Please concentrate. Have you forgotten in a hurry how the same set of detractors went to town with falsehood to cause disaffection between you and your close political associates? Your equanimity and calculated maturity saw you through those political shenanigans. Or how financial figures were falsified in an attempt to tarnish your financial prudence as opposed to the financial recklessness foisted on the Jewel in the Savannah before you assumed office. They went to the press with devious facts and graphical illustrations in the height of absurdities just in an attempt to color your white robes in satanic black. They failed then. They will also fail now.
This is not a strange move at all. It is political abracadabra evolved to see whether they can rattle your camp as electioneering beckons. Unfortunately, you came to the governance equity with clean hands. Justice is on the side of the just. Let me encourage you further, the voice of the people who you toil for day and night sacrificially will tower above the voices of the villains who find nothing meaningful to do with their time and resources other than leafing through clean sheets of papers to see whether they will find any rumpled page so they could condemn to the dustbin. Those, whose stock in trade is such, always end up in the dustbin of history where they are presently, and will forever remain.
Maybe they think the citizens of Gombe will forget so soon how their new “glorified” arrowhead use to end his day in the office often in a stupor or the satanic garden of the proverbial killer apples? You have reminded ‘Gombawas’ that governance is for the serious-minded and not for political adventurers who toy with the destiny of people entrusted in their care as leaders. You have demonstrated that governance can be done openly, sincerely, and beneficial to all and not by a few marauders in the name of politicians. Inuwa Yahaya, you are indeed a thoroughbred son of Gombe who has brought imminence and developmental significance to your fatherland. The spirit of your progenitors will rise at this dark hour and shine the light of truth on your path as you overcome this distraction.
What could be the motive of the current hubris? Could it be that they don’t want development for Gombe State? You came up with DEVAGOM, the first 10-Year Development Plan in the history of the 26-year-old state? Can we go to their camp and ask if it should be reversed? God forbid that Gombe retrogresses. Or they are angry that Gombe is now the number one ranked state in ease of doing business in Nigeria or they are not happy that the state has now become a model, haven, and a shining example of success in all its ramifications.
Oh, Inuwa has announced the commencement of the multi-billion naira Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park. Maybe they are opposed to the industrialization of the Jewel in the Savannah. Could it be that your network 11- 100 road initiative applauded in many quarters and already being adopted by many other states in Nigeria has truncated their illegal businesses? Only they can tell.
Inuwa Yahaya, with over 1000 capital projects executed in education, over 230 in the health sector, and over 400 kilometers of roads under the Network 11-100 which targets the construction of at least 100 kilometers of roads in each of the 11 Local Government Areas of the state, the Jewel in the Savannah has changed tremendously in the critical development index compared to the inherited situation in 2019. Unfolding events since your inauguration in 2019 are in synchronization with all the campaign promises you made to all the 114 electoral wards and over 400 communities you visited to canvass for votes and as contained in your manifesto.
Realities are on the ground for all to validate and vindicate Dan Majen Gombe as an incontestable and conscientious promise keeper. Keke- NAPEP riders in Gombe will never forget your generosity. Most importantly, the teeming civil servants who collect their salaries promptly with the National minimum wage and our senior citizens who were earlier left to wallow in wants are now receiving their gratuity arrears from the Inuwa government enough to give testimony of your wonderful leadership.
Oh, maybe you have provided solutions to where the citizens have hitherto been fed and befuddled with lies and impossibilities. You have simplified governance beyond imagination.
Or they are not happy that affordable healthcare afforded the citizens via your GoHEALTH is robbing them of their fiefdom? They are yet to understand that the king that rules and the people’s reign shall never be forgotten but will forever be loved. Health services are now a thing of joy and a song of jubilation in Gombe State, courtesy of your visionary leadership.
Some of your other programs so far implemented by you in the course of your three years in the saddle of leadership include; GoCARES, GoHealth, Gombe State Geographical Information System GOGIS, the Gombe Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps GoSTEC, and the Gombe Goes Green 3G. And most recently, the Gombe State Covid-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus GoCARES. This GoCARES is perhaps one of the most ambitious empowerment programmes ever undertaken since the creation of the State. The breakdown of the benefits means that all segments of the polity will be relieved by the financial inconveniences occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lest I forget you have just distributed farming niceties to the Gombe farming communities. I could go on and on dear Governor Inuwa.
Let me just pause and wish you and your crops of the dedicated, meticulous, resilient, honest, and highly technocratic team, a very good electioneering campaign as your good deeds continue to speak for you. Gombe people are rooting for you to do your second tenure so their lives and lots will be better than even the present improvement which is quite historic.
All lies will always fall flat-faced while the truth will forever shine brighter and brighter unto further heights of glories. No shaking Inuwa Yahaya, only concentrate.
Engr. D. Balarabe wrote from Abuja, FCT
