POLITICAL PROGRESS NIGERIAN MODEL MAY 2013

Governors' Mid-Term Review: A SPECIAL Report


28 May 2013

Governor's assessment



PROLOGUE



A Challenged Stewardship



BY YEMI AJAYI

Given the many years of neglect occasioned by prolonged military rule, governance in Nigeria has essentially been turned into what a governor once described as “brick and mortal democracy”. By the time the military left in 1999, many parts of the federation were suffering from an acute infrastructure deficit. Roads were bad; power epileptic, while the education and health care sectors were in a shambles.



However, 14 years since the return of democracy, efforts by leaders at various tiers of government have been geared towards arresting the decay and coming up with a regeneration programme that will give the people, for whose wellbeing the government exists, a new lease of life. This reason largely informed the tradition in Nigeria whereby a government is assessed by its ability to provide basic infrastructure such as good roads, potable water, electricity as well as guaranteeing efficient and effective education and health care systems.




These expectations have largely cut out the job for the political leaders, especially at the state level where the people are much closer to the seat of power. In the 36 states of the federation, each governor has tried, within the limitation of its financial resources, to address the infrastructure challenges inherited from his predecessors. However, given the prolonged neglect in that sector, many of such efforts have been like scratching the surface. The more roads that are built, the more people demand for more.

Since the provision of physical infrastructure is seen as one of the tangible dividends of democracy, many governors have concentrated efforts in defining their achievements by the number of roads built, provision of housing, building of classrooms and office complexes in schools and for government agencies as well as other activities that the people can directly relate with.



Given the many sectors of each state economy where government’s attention is needed, some of the governors have come to the realisation that they cannot afford to spread their meagre resources thin by addressing all the needs of their people. This has led to a situation where each administration has come up with a programme that encapsulates the top priority of the governor and his cabinet.



For example, for the Babatunde Fashola administration in Lagos State, the path to a better Lagos is through PATH, an acronym for power, agriculture, transportation and housing. His administration’s efforts have been largely focused on executing various projects in these sectors that would unleash the potential of enhancing the status of the state as a megacity in addition to speeding up socio-economic activities that would promote the wellbeing of its residents.



Fashola’s counterpart in Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, on his part, has expended so much resources in areas of security, revamping the education sector through the building of schools and equipping same with modern facilities that will catapult the state into the same league of other advanced nations. In addition, Rivers has made the monorail project a top priority to ease transportation pangs in the oil-rich state.



Other governors such as Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State and Chief Theodore Orji of Abia State have through their programmes in the areas of economic empowerment of the people, provision of infrastructure, healthcare programmes and revamping the agriculture sector, tried to improve on the legacy inherited from their predecessors as well as made an impact in enhancing the wellbeing of the people of their respective states. With many of the governors hitting the midterm of their four-year tenure today, focus will be on how they have been able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. It is an occasion for them to report to their employers, the electorate, in whose trust they exercise power, on how they have been able to use the state resources entrusted in their care. Besides, it is also an occasion to bring the electorate up to speed on their challenges and aspirations for the future.



For many of the governors, the last two years have come with their peculiar challenges, especially both in terms of exercising their mandate and ability to deliver on their campaign promises. Irrespective of the financial status of the states, which differs based on their monthly take from the Federation Account and internally generated revenue – the two main sources of funds for financing projects and discharging other financial responsibilities – they all complain of lack of funds to effectively make an impact on the lives of the people. Some of them have not been able to pay the N18,000 national minimum wage and the 27.5 per cent pay rise for teachers that has compelled the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) to declare strike in 18 states. It was in a bid to ensure that they get more money to meet their obligations that the governors went to war with the presidency over the management of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), and pushed for a revision of the revenue sharing formula.



From the super rich states such as Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa, to the scrounging ones such as Zamfara, Osun, Ebonyi and Ekiti, money is scarce. However, this situation is exacerbated by pervasive corruption and misapplication of funds in the system hallmarked by over-inflated projects, padding of recurrent expenditure with ghost workers and a bloated workforce.



Others have faced serious security challenges occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency that has led to the death of thousands of people in the north-east and some states in the North-central and North-west; the thriving kidnapping industry in the South-east and South-south and South-west; oil theft that is prevalent in Bayelsa and Delta States; ethno-religious killings in Plateau State as well as the rising cases of Fulani herdsmen and farmers’ clashes that have become prevalent in some states in the North-central and North-west.



Some of the governors have also been entangled in crises arising from their political activities and affiliations, which have served as a distraction in their quest to effectively deliver on their mandate. For example, Amaechi in the last couple of months, has been locked in a battle with some of the party members over the struggle for the control of the machinery of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. The crisis is principally believed to have root in his quest for a second term as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), which he achieved through a hollow victory with his re-election last Friday, as the NGF was effectively factionalised. The supremacy battle between the contending parties has spawned other crises that has led to the shutdown of the state House of Assembly and impaired local government administration in the state. Amaechi’s counterpart in Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), is also fighting a similar battle in the state, which has pitted him against the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, for the control of the state’s party structure.



The jockeying for the 2015 elections which has led to the ongoing realignment of forces as seen by the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition of the nation’s opposition parties, has caused tension in the polity and serves as a major distraction for some of the governors.

Overall, two years down the line today is an occasion for the people to ruminate over their conditions and ask the appropriate question: Are they faring better now under the people they have entrusted with power?

The answer is what THISDAY correspondents across the country attempt to provide in this report.






ABIA

Orji Consolidates on Infrastructure and Self-Aggrandisement

At the turn of his second tenure in office, Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, set out to leave his footprints in the sand of time. He told the people that he was going to pursue a transformation agenda that would provide a solid foundation for the infrastructure development of the state. Orji knew that he inherited a state with huge infrastructure deficit.



However, he did not do much to address the problem in his first tenure as he was yet to liberate himself from the alleged yoke of his erstwhile godfather and predecessor, Orji Uzor Kalu. There was also the insecurity problem of kidnapping and armed robberies that gripped Abia and scared away construction firms from project sites.



So far, Orji has overcome his initial constraints and kept faith with his commitment to transform the face of Abia. Notably, the capital city of Umuahia has witnessed a number of projects. The state now has a modern secretariat to accommodate civil servants. The judiciary has a huge complex to house the state high courts, which have been equipped with modern courtrooms while the existing ones have been renovated.





An international conference centre is nearing completion at Ogurube layout, a project which the governor said would put Abia in the league of states that can host big events. Orji has commenced work on the new Government House, which would move the seat of government from the temporary structure set up after the creation of the state in 1991 to a more befitting one.



Having fought and wrested Abia from the menace of insecurity, Orji has embarked on job schemes that will provide massive employment as a way of sustaining the prevailing security in the state. Hundreds of vehicles have been procured and distributed to youths to enable them make a living in the transport business. Yet others have been trained in various skills and provided with tools and funds to become self-employed.



Orji’s achievements in the area of urban renewal have resulted in the relocation of the major markets in the state capital to better locations. A modern industrial market with accompanying facilities built at Ahieke Ndume area of the capital city has since replaced the former market. At Ubani Ibeku, work is going on at the new Umuahia main market. Roads in Aba, the commercial city, and Umuahia are being either constructed or upgraded in earnest in line with the urban renewal programme. Between the last quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, over 12 road projects have been completed and inaugurated in Aba.



To Orji’s credit is the construction of modern health facilities, especially the specialist hospitals and diagnostic centres at Umuahia and Aba. Besides, the general hospitals across the state are receiving facelift.



In all these, the governor has continued to point out that his major constraint has been funding. He says Abia’s receipts from federal allocation hovers between N2.5 billion and N4.5 billion a month, while the monthly wage bill is put at N2.9 billion. This would explain why workers in some ministries and agencies complain of irregular salaries. Also, Orji has still not been able to implement the new minimum wage bill across all segments of the public sector in Abia, particularly among the local government workers in the state.



The internally generated revenue (IGR) profile of the state is nothing to write home about, given the state’s potential in the extractive oil and gas sector; taxes that could be generated from commercial activities in Aba; and its proximity to Rivers State. However, the state government claims its IGR has started picking up following the reform in revenue collection, including the use of consultants.



Orji also spends an inordinate amount of time and resources playing politics with the state. For instance, Aba, once a thriving commercial nerve centre, is still in urgent need of a facelift. Instead of focusing on attracting investment to the city and enhancing socioeconomic activities, Orji prefers to litter Aba and other parts of the state with self-aggrandising billboards and posters of himself.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





ADAMAWA

Nyako: Grappling with Development in the Face of Insecurity

The Murtala Nyako led-administration in Adamawa State made the provision of infrastructure, youth and women empowerment, as well as rural development its major focus.

In order to achieve this, the administration has concentrated more on road construction and rehabilitation, provision of water through the provision of boreholes, while socio-economic activities in the state have been boosted by constructing road projects geared at linking the various local government headquarters. This will also ease the transportation of agricultural produce from rural communities to the urban centres.



In the area of youth empowerment, the government established farming skills acquisition centres in each of the 21 local government areas of the state. The administration recognised the fact that Adamawa being an agrarian state, could tap the job potential inherent in agriculture to empower youths, and enhance food security in the state.

In the same vein, the government also established technical and vocational training centres in some strategic locations in the three senatorial districts of the state, to give youths vocational training in automobile repair, mobile phone repair, furniture making, sewing and fabrication.



Women in the rural areas were not left out in the empowerment programme as the government facilitated their access to soft loans that would enable them establish small-scale businesses. Some of them received training in soap making, sewing and computer programming to prepare them for the future.



However, the major challenge of the Nyako government lies in the protracted crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, which has factionalised the party. Another challenge is the insecurity in the state occasioned by terrorist attacks by Boko Haram insurgents. This has led to the federal government including Adamawa on the list of states where emergency rule was imposed recently.



Notwithstanding the challenges, as the administration enters another lap in its four-year tenure, it has pledged to pay more attention to science and technology, manpower development and poverty reduction programmes, as well as to generate electricity from Lagdo Dam in Cameroun and the Kiri Dam to boost industrialisation and commercial activities in the state.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





AKWA IBOM

Akpabio Remains on Course Despite Politicking

Since he came to office in 2007, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, has been striving to leave a legacy in the state. His re-election in 2011 buoyed his commitment to ensure the realisation of his vision to build a prosperous, highly educated, technologically driven, ethnically harmonious, caring and pace-setting state in Nigeria. The policy thrust of his administration centres on infrastructure development, education and industrialisation of the state.





He has worked assiduously in changing the old order by promoting harmonious co-existence among the various ethnic groups in the state. Before his election, politics in Akwa Ibom was played on three fronts: the home front, Lagos and Abuja fronts. Akpabio has succeeded in dismantling and ensuring such fronts do not feature prominently in determining the affairs of the state. Also, he has engaged the major ethnic groups to reduce incidence of acrimony among them as a way of reducing ethnic and communal conflicts.



The state under Akpabio has witnessed an improvement in terms of infrastructure development. Realising that infrastructure drives the economy, on his assumption of office he embarked on road construction across the three senatorial districts of the state. Reports show that more than 300 roads, covering about 1,009 kilometres have been constructed in the state. The roads also include six federal roads, four flyovers and ring roads.



The Akpabio administration has encouraged the establishment of industries in the 31 local government areas of the state as part of its efforts to create more jobs for the people. About N20 billion was set aside as seed funding for any indigene of the state to establish a business. The government has also embarked on campaigns locally and overseas to woo investors.



Within his first term in office, the menace of kidnapping, murders, assassinations and other criminal activities were rampant. Today, however, such crimes have been reduced to the barest minimum through effective security measures put in place. There are two security outfits in the state, namely: Operation Thunder and the Quick Response Squad. The state has provided the security agencies with over 300 vehicles, armoured personal carriers and communication gadgets and other facilities to enhance operations. Gunboats have equally been donated to the Nigerian Navy to check maritime crime.



In order to make the state a tourist destination, Akpabio has embarked on the creation of tourist sites, which include the Ibom Tropicana entertainment centre. The centre is created in the image of Sun City of South Africa and the famous Disneyland.



Despite his achievements, the government is faced with challenges occasioned by paucity of funds. This forced the state government to state in its 2012 and 2013 budgets that it would not prosecute new projects until the completion of ongoing ones. Recently, the governor approached the state House of Assembly for approval to obtain a foreign loan worth N80 billion to finance micro projects in the state.



The funding gap in the face of the many commitments of the state government, has affected the completion of some projects and impaired efforts by the administration to embark on more projects. For example, apart from developing the gateway roads to Uyo, the state capital, there is no good road network within the metropolis. Also the city lacks a proper urban transit scheme.



The 10,000 housing unit projects in each of the three senatorial districts of the state have been stalled, just like the provision of security villages for top council officials in the 31 local government areas.



Another challenge facing the governor is the distraction caused by his recent selection as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF). Since his appointment, on the average, he spends three out of the five working days a week outside the state. This slowed down the pace of governance as statutory engagements are delayed in his absence. His politicking on the national stage has also led to profligacy, as Akpabio, in a bid to appear populist, has been known to donate money to frivolous causes.

THISDAY Assessment: Good Performance





ANAMBRA

Obi Keeps Faith with ANIDS

The Governor Peter Obi-led administration in Anambra State on assuming office in March 18, 2006 laid out a plan of development programme tagged the Anambra State Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS) whereby every facet of the economy would receive attention and was to be developed simultaneously.



Overtime, the implementation of this policy has made a tremendous impact on the delivery of democracy dividends to the people, especially on the aspects of road infrastructure, health management, environmental sanitation, education, housing, security and investment drive.

It is on record that Obi has since he assumed office embarked on massive road construction projects in both the urban centres and rural areas, having covered no fewer than 600km of roads across the state. A team of inspectors from the Federal Ministry of Works, which visited the state recently declared that Anambra has one of the best road networks in the country.



The state government has upgraded the General Hospital, Amaku, Awka, the state capital, to a university teaching hospital, and equipped it with modern facilities. Other health institutions in the state have equally received a boost in the development programmes.



In the education sector, schools have been rebuilt and equipped with computers and other facilities to enhance learning. What perhaps may be described as the greatest achievement of the Obi’s administration in the education sector is the return of schools to their original owners, especially the missionaries. This feat has restored discipline and brought about improved learning capacity in the sector.



Obviously, because of the urbanisation programme, foreign investors have shown interest in coming to the state, with companies like SABmiller, the second largest brewing giant in the world, erecting its facilities in the commercial city of Onitsha.



Because of continued support given by the state government to the security agencies, the crime wave has reduced drastically, just as the community policing policy adopted by the state government at the grassroots has led to an improvement in security in the state.



Nevertheless, the Obi-led administration has continued to receive knocks over its reluctance to conduct the much-delayed local government elections in the state despite the existing peace and political stability witnessed by his administration. Many see this as a big setback for democracy. Owing to the non-conduct of council polls in the state, local government councils have continued to be run either by civil servants or caretaker committees, seen as mere rubber stamps of the governor, and are not accountable to the people. This has led to spiralling accusation that funds accruing to the councils were being misappropriated.



Another thorny issue for the Obi administration is multiple taxation. People complain that the state is being over-commercialised by government and that the common man is the worse of for it, as prices of goods and services have skyrocketed.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





BAUCHI

Yuguda Completes Abandoned Projects

When Bauchi State Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda, got re-elected into office, one of his campaign promises was to complete all on-going projects and programmes and embark on new ones that would have a direct impact on the lives of the citizenry.



In tandem with the promise, so far Yuguda’s administration has completed 42 projects, cutting across health care, education, youth and women empowerment, agriculture and power, among others. Some of these projects have been completed and due for inauguration.

In his second term, the governor has placed a great emphasis on the building of a new Bauchi International Airport. The new airport is capable of accommodating five-seven large-bodied aircraft.



Among the other projects being undertaken by the Yuguda administration is the new specialist hospital being built at the cost of N2 billion. The new specialist hospital is nearing completion and will replace the old one that has given way to the newly established Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital.



In the education sector, Yuguda has also established a state-owned university. The Bauchi State University has already taken off with academic activities being carried out in full gear, while a number of teaching staff have been recruited and sent abroad for further training. The governor also created a special Ministry of Science and Technology, and sponsored the training of 25 chemistry teachers, 50 students and 10 laboratory assistants at National Research and Chemical Technology Institute, Zaria.



In the health sector, apart from the establishment of secondary health care centres, the Yuguda administration has completed the construction of Bogoro and Bayara new General Hospitals worth N375.6 million, while the Shira General Hospital was renovated and equipped. Kafin Madaki, Misau and Zaki new General Hospitals will soon be inauguration. The governor has also approved plans to upgrade Schools of Nursing and Midwifery and that of Ningi Health Technology to status of colleges.



A new VVF Centre within the Ningi General Hospital has been established to cater for patients who hitherto often sought for such services in Jos, Plateau State. The VVF services are offered free. The Yuguda administration has also awarded contract worth over N510,624,131.47 for the renovation/construction of Primary Health Centres across the state.



Construction and rehabilitation of roads are among projects the Yuguda administration is giving priority attention because of its firm belief that such roads are catalyst for economic development. The age-old Bauchi airstrip was reconstructed at a cost of about N300 million and the airstrip is now functional. Work on Ningi–Burra and Alkaleri–Futuk Roads construction which were awarded at a cost of N10 billion has reached advanced stage. Already, the Azare-Isawa-Chinade and Gamawa-Alagarno Roads have since been completed and inaugurated.



Approval has been given for the establishment of 10 community radio stations by the administration of Yuguda so as to take information to the grassroots. Five of such stations have already been inaugurated by the governor.

Although many of his critics appear impressed with his performance, they complain about Yuguda’s regular absence from the state. As a result, they have dubbed him the absentee governor, as he is fond of staying away from his state, most of the time staying away for upwards of a month or even more.



Add to this the violence unleashed on Bauchi by terrorists and kidnappers. Most notable was the recent kidnapping and killing of seven foreign construction workers from Setraco in the state.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





BAYELSA

Dickson Steers a New Course on the Back of Alarming Oil Theft

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, came to power under acrimonious circumstances given the bitter fight between him and his predecessor, Timipreye Sylva, over who should be the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in the state.



However, realising that meaningful development could be achieved in the state given the animosity with which the election was fought and won, he made reconciliation a top priority of his administration. He surprised many watchers of political events in the state by the way he was able to bring together three of the four major political camps in the state.



It is to his credit that he was able to bring the Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Timi Alaibe camps to align with that of President Goodluck Jonathan. Not a few people wonder how he was able to achieve this given the frosty relationship among the political elite in the state.



On physical and infrastructure projects, there has been a significant change. As Dickson has often boasted, Bayelsa is now a huge construction site. Besides infrastructure, the governor has stated his commitment to improve the education sector in the state. But for the payment of the examination fees for graduating students in secondary schools, there is nothing to show how serious the government is to its avowed free education policy.



Although the government has initiated a 10-year education sector strategic plan, nothing has been done to rehabilitate school buildings and infrastructure that will provide a conducive learning environment for pupils.



But if he has not made much impact in the education sector, Dickson has done so much in ensuring peace and security in the state. The days of unexplained bomb explosions have gone. However, there has been a resurgence of militancy that led to the high profile killing of 12 policemen. Although Dickson made some effort by enacting laws that make cultism and kidnapping capital crimes in the state, these crimes have continued unabated.



In addition, Bayelsa under Dickson’s watch has a very high incidence of crude oil theft, especially in the creeks. This has forced the oil multinationals to either declare force majeure on oil exports or shut down their operations in the state completely until sanity is restored and oil theft minimised.

THISDAY Assessment: Average but promising





BENUE

Suswam’s Development Quest Hobbled by Funding

Like some of his counterparts who are on the last lap of their duty as governors, Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, on his re-election in 2011, had promised to consolidate on his achievements as well as to create wealth for the people of the state. He also promised to boost agriculture, health, commerce and transform ailing industries in the state.



The governor also promised to address the N18,000 minimum wage for workers in the state.



Two years down the line, Suswam has started harvesting results from his commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of the people, especially in some sectors of the state’s economy. One area where this is noticeable is in the area of agriculture, which should not come as a surprise given that Benue is the country’s food basket.

Apart from the expansion and investment in mechanised farming, the state today boasts of three giant rice mills, a testament to the newfound partnership between the government and the private sector.



The state government provided a soft loan of N1 billion to farmers, which has catapulted the Ashi rice mill and Miva rice mill to some of the biggest mills in the country.

The state government also imported over 30 small milling machines which were distributed to farmers to improve rice production.



According to Suswam, “In the first four years of our leadership, rural infrastructure became our main focus. Ninety per cent of our people live in the rural areas. And we had a serious infrastructure deficit in the rural areas. I concentrated on providing roads and water. As a matter of consolidation now, we are alleviating poverty and creating wealth.



“We just distributed not long ago N1 billion to rural small scale farmers, to encourage them in enhancing agricultural production. We got the N1 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”



The Suswam administration also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Industry (BoI) that will guarantee access to N1 billion to small-scale businesses and farmers. To boost commercial activities, the state government has revamped the Taraku Mill, which has a capacity of serving the state and other neighbouring states when it reaches its full potential in producing Soya-bean table oil and other products.



Not only is the administration encouraging farming, it has created a commodity trading company that will compete in the market with other buyers so that there would be food pricing competition in the market with the aim of making farming profitable to those involved in it.



Besides farming, the state government has also encouraged animal husbandry with the establishment of the biggest piggery in the country to satisfy the state’s growing appetite for pork and provide enough for sale to other parts of the country and for export.



In health care delivery, the state government has constructed 10 international standard health centres across the state, which are to support the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in catering to the health of the people.



The state government has also completed the electrification of 200 communities in the last one year. Furthermore, a new ultra-modern market in Makurdi is about 80 per cent completed, while work on the abandoned state-owned five-star hotel leased to private partners, is about 90 per cent completed.



The administration has also shown commitment to maintaining its place as the leading secure state in the North-central zone. However, the efforts to guarantee the safety of lives and property are being threatened by the recurring cases of clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen, which the state government, in conjunction with the federal government is striving to address.



However, despite its avowed commitment to the development of the state, the Suswam administration is facing a major challenge in the area of funding. The state collects on the average less than N2 billion monthly and over N1.2 billion of this is spent on payment of workers’ salaries. According to Suswam, the internally generated revenue of the state is poor due to the absence of big industries and commercial activities. This has made the state dependent on funds from the Federation Account to finance its activities.



With two years before he leaves office, Suswam remains unwavering in his commitment to leave the state far better than he met it.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





BORNO

Shettima Stunted by Boko Haram

Fear, insecurity and anxiety are all the vices that have plagued Borno State in the last four years. Since taking over office, Kashim Shettima has been confronted with all of them head on. He, in fact, inherited the troubles of the state from his predecessor, Ali Modu Sheriff, who presided over and turned a blind eye to the emergence of the dreaded Boko Haram sect in the state.



Before Shettima was sworn in, he probably grossly underestimated what he was taking on especially in the area of security of lives and property. This was despite the fact that Boko Haram was the major campaign issue during the election that brought the administration into pow



Yet Shettima could not but assure all that he was going to enhance security in the state. As such, the election was keenly contested and it was a race to the wire, as many were not persuaded that he had the antidote to the singular problem that nearly consumed the life of the last administration.



After his victory, Shettima was practically on his knees appealing to the sect members to bury the hatchet and allow peace to reign. But his pleas fell on deaf ears as the terrorists rode roughshod over his state, killing, maiming and kidnapping people at will.

Funding that should have been used for other sectors of the state’s economy have had to be used for either securing lives and property or giving assistance to those affected by the crisis, as the administration is often seen dolling out bailouts to victims of Boko Haram attacks. What is worse is that the state’s economy has ground to a halt as everything depends on government patronage.



Irrespective, the government has limped along and strived to breathe life into agriculture and some moribund industries in Borno State. Also, the priority of the Shettima government is in the creation of employment opportunities and perhaps education, which the government firmly believes is the only way to deny the fundamentalists of new adherents to carry out their scorched earth campaign.



In this regard, he has created the Office for Vocational Training, where people are trained on modern agricultural practices; many youths have also been employed to do menial jobs such as environment cleaning, molding of bricks and farming, among others. Also, in order to arrest the minds of the teeming population of the state from being brain washed by the fundamentalists, a lot has been invested in education. In fact, the governor ordered the splitting of the Ministry of Education into three ministries, so as to engender efficiency.



To increase student enrolment, the present administration has embarked on an education feeding system, which it has reviewed. A feeding committee was put in place to directly take charge of providing good meals for pupils because learning cannot take place when students are hungry or malnourished.



The government is also focusing on the agricultural sector with the aim of achieving food security. Indeed, in agriculture, a revolution is going on. A team of experts under the leadership of Ibrahim Ali and the Managing Director of the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA) has been appointed to coordinate the numerous agricultural programmes. Measures are also being taken to improve tertiary education. Works are ongoing in schools while the state government has successfully implemented the Consolidated Tertiary Salary Structure (CONTISS) for lecturers in the state-owned tertiary institutions.



The present administration sees health care as crucial too. Between May 2011 and now, the Borno State Ministry of Health has taken health care delivery services to the doorsteps of the people. In the area of electricity supply, the administration through the Ministry of Housing and Rural Electrification has recorded some milestones in the last two year by providing the needed implements and connecting some towns to the national grid. In the area of water resources, the desert is not the best of places to get pipe borne water, but the Shettima administration has focused on making water available to many through the provision of numerous boreholes and the rehabilitation of water works projects.



In the transport sector, the state government made history with the distribution of 5,000 tricycles under an empowerment scheme for commercial purposes. It distributed the tricycles within the first two months of the administration and has never relented ever since with massive investment in this area.



Though the government could be said to have tried to keep its head above water despite the drawback of insecurity, the burden of the Boko Haram crisis as well as the declaration of emergency rule by the president penultimate week has certainly taken its toll on the state. Expectedly, this has forced the governor to cry out for assistance and perhaps a marshal plan to rehabilitate the state.

THISDAY Assessment: Jury is still out; cannot be assessed given insecurity in the state





CROSS RIVER

Lean Resources Slow Growth for Imoke

Cross River State has still not been able to occupy the pride of place among the comity of states in the country, but the state government remains on course. The important thing is that ever since civil rule returned to Nigeria, the state has continued to take measured steps towards development.



The young men at the helm of affairs of the state have a clear agenda of their mission in governance. The thrust of the Liyel Imoke-led administration is anchored on tourism development and agriculture. The state has a comparative advantage in these sectors.



The former administration of Mr. Donald Duke laid the foundation, which Imoke is building on. This explains why tourism is so dear to the state government. It has a loaded calendar of tourist events all year round.



Under agriculture, new cocoa farms have been cultivated; the same as oil palm plantations, even as a Singaporean company, Wilmar, has taken over the Calaro and Ibiae oil palm plantations. The Songhai Farm has also made inroads into the state by investing heavily in agriculture.



Before the advent of the Imoke administartion, public primary and post primary schools in the state were in shambles. Teaching and learning were not conducive. The government came up with a comprehensive rehabilitation programme, which today has seen many schools across the state improving on teaching standards. The schools today have laboratories for chemistry, physics, biology and computer studios.



Where the impact of the state government is felt most is its rural transformation programme. Under this, roads are being constructed in the hinterland to ease the movement of persons and farm produce to the cities; electricity is also provided in over 1,000 villages connected to the national grid. In addition, mini water schemes have been provided in some communities, just as several health centres have been renovated and equipped.



The state government has given a facelift to major urban centres in the state. Streets and roads in Calabar South, Calabar Municipality, Ugep, Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu have either been tarred or are being tarred. In these places, mobility is now easier as motorists can get to their destination with ease. So many urban and rural roads are under construction making the state a construction site.



The Imoke administration was at ease with its development programme until the ceding of the state’s 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State. This has impacted the revenue of the state, a development which has forced the government to look inwards. However, the revenue generated internally is inconsequential to augment federal receipts. This leaves the state with no alternative than to woo donor agencies to assist finance some of its development projects under counterpart funding arrangements.



Despite the lean resources of government, the Imoke administration has continued to stay the course on its projects embarked upon before the loss of the oil wells. None has been abandoned just as new ones such as the Calabar International Conference Centre have been initiated and are under construction. But observers contend that the government has failed in the area of human empowerment programmes.



The problem of the administration is that it inherited huge debts from the Tinapa project whose repayment has become a burden. The federal government, which guaranteed most of these loans, deducts at source from the state’s statutory allocation of some N3 billion to service the debts. This leaves the government with little to foot the wage bill of its 21,000 workforce. Often an overdraft is collected from banks to pay salaries; on top of which contractors still have to be paid for jobs done.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





DELTA

Uduaghan Continues to Consolidate, But Security Concerns Persist

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, no doubt has delivered on the dividends of democracy since assuming office six years ago. Since his re-election in 2011, he has intensified efforts at consolidating on his stewardship in his first term.

His administration is essentially anchored on a four-point agenda: peace, security, infrastructure development and human capital development.



Peace and security have taken the centre stage of the state government’s programme as Uduaghan has always maintained that without peace and security, all other infrastructure and human capital development efforts will be meaningless.

Uduaghan has made it a point of duty to ensure that all the security agencies in the state are adequately equipped with the necessary manpower and logistics. For example, the state government has donated many police patrol vans and communication equipment to the state police command to enhance its operations.

As a way of further enhancing security in and around the creeks, the state government has also donated boats to the police force that will enable police officers and men to check crime in the riverine communities.



Uduaghan has also single-handedly gone into the creeks to hold discussions with militants on the need for them to end violence and kidnapping in the Niger Delta region, while urging them to embrace the federal government’s amnesty programme.

As sanity returned to the state, the Uduaghan administration was able to focus on human and capital development to ensure that the people of Delta enjoyed the dividends of democracy. Among the projects in this direction is the Asaba International Airport, which has enhanced movement in and out of the state, as well as for residents in neighbouring Anambra State.



Realising that the state, just like Nigeria, cannot continue to depend on oil as its mainstay, the Uduaghan administration has focused attention on opening up other sectors of the economy to generate revenue for the government. The governor came up with the initiative Delta Beyond Oil, arguing that when the oil wells dry up, the state must be able to survive on other resources.



In the area of education, the state is to build 60 model schools of world standard equipped with computer centres, while another 500 schools are under renovation all over the state. Uduaghan has also awarded scholarships to many students of Delta origin who are studying in various tertiary institutions in the country and abroad.

In the area of transportation, the state purchased boats for transportation in the riverine areas as well as buses, cars and tricycles for public transportation, especially in the wake of the ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles on some roads.

The administration has also encouraged the establishment of medium and small-scale enterprises by giving out soft loans to beneficiaries who are largely women as a way of creating more job opportunities for the people.



The Uduaghan administration has also given the state a facelift through the provision of infrastructure such as roads. The administration’s policy of free pre and post-natal care for women and free medical care for children under the age of five years has helped to boost access to medicare by the people.



However, two years to the end of the governor’s tenure, most Deltans are worried that Uduaghan might not be able to complete all the projects that his administration has embarked on and this could lead to their abandonment. But in spite of this scepticism, Uduaghan has promised to leave Delta State better that he met it notwithstanding the financial constraint being faced by his administration.

Similarly, despite his best efforts to end kidnapping and crude oil theft in the state, these vices still persist. This has raised concern about his security strategy for the state and its effectiveness.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average







EBONYI

Elechi Elevates Governance in EbonyI

Governor Martin Elechi has spent six years in office having succeeded the first governor, Dr. Sam Egwu. Elechi has to his credit quite a few projects scattered across the 13 local government areas of the state.



In spite of the challenges of meagre resources and poor federation account allocation, the governor has concretised the three-pronged agenda of his administration anchored on civil service reform, attitudinal change and development of infrastructure.



One of the vital infrastructure projects undertaken by the Elechi administration is the construction of an ultra-modern Staff Development Centre in Abakaliki. The project was designed to take care of the training needs of all categories of the state’s workforce. The project was completed at the cost of N255 million and furnished at the cost of N200 million.





On his other achievements, Elechi embarked on a N12 billion international market project, one of the biggest projects by the state government. The market which has reached 80 per cent completion with lock up shops of over 5,000, is expected to boost the internally generated revenue of the state and compete with other international markets across Africa.



The Elechi administration has completed 34 bridges out of the 36 unity bridges and access roads linking the state. Seven of the bridges cut across Ebonyi River, while others cut across the 13 council areas of the state.



He embarked on three mega water schemes at Oferekpe, Ukwu and Ezillo where the laying of water pipes from the Oferekpe water scheme to Abakaliki has commenced, and when completed will supply water to the metropolis and rural areas. However, Elechi has often complained of paucity of funds to carry on with the water reticulation to the rural areas which is expected to cost N37 billion.



Elechi sustained the free and compulsory primary and secondary education programmes of his predecessor and went ahead to introduce the return of boarding schools in secondary schools. The 27 pilot schools, spread across the 13 local government areas of the state, are further complemented with three technical and vocational colleges located in the three senatorial zones.



Elechi has also built an ultra-modern secretariat complex of 11 blocks of four floors each. In health care, the state government has distributed N1.3 billion to six rural/mission hospitals, which has served as a breather to the institutions whose operations were previously constrained by a combination of obsolete equipment and the dearth of skilled manpower.



Elechi also constructed new digital radio and TV stations while three rice milling machines have been procured for the rice clusters at Ikwo, Izzi and Oso-Eda.

Despite the strides made by Elechi, the state still remains largely underdeveloped relative to the rest of the South-east. Unemployment also remains a major challenge, which the administration has not been able to tackle. Elechi has also been shortsighted in his handling the change of ownership of the Nigercem factory, which could have created hundreds of direct and indirect jobs in the state.

THISDAY Assessment: Below average





EDO

Oshiomhole Alters Edo’s Landscape

Like a few of his colleagues, Adams Oshiomhole fought a tough battle before he was eventually made Edo State governor after the Court of Appeal, on November 11, 2008 pronounced him as the duly elected governor in the 2007 general election. Therefore, unlike most of his colleagues, his anniversary is not May 29, but November 11.



However, since his assumption of office and his subsequent re-election for another four-year term, he has changed the state’s landscape through projects. His administration has invested heavily in road construction, construction and reconstruction of schools, especially primary and secondary schools, as well as giving priority to health care and provision of potable water.



He has committed most of the state’s budget to development of roads and drainages where more than 3,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed in consonance with the evolving infrastructure master plan. For instance, in his determination to provide quality education, Oshiomhole has constructed, rehabilitated and expanded schools across the three senatorial districts of the state.





To minimise wastage, the administration has instituted a policy of fiscal governance anchored on a transparent process that is largely ICT driven. Its bold resolve on the deft management of resources and tax reforms has earned it acclamation from the World Bank and other international financial institutions.

Also to his credit is the area of capacity building and job creation, which so far has generated more that 10,000 new jobs in various ministries and extra-ministerial departments.



In his effort to provide more job opportunities for the people, the governor has been able to get business mogul, Aliko Dangote, to consider siting in the state a fertiliser company just as another private company, Stallion Group, is warming up to establish a rice farm in the state in collaboration with the government.



However, despite his zeal to modernise the state and to make life better for its residents, the administration has been slowed down by inadequacy of funds. According to the Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie, the state is not buoyant enough to finance most of the laudable projects and programmes it had put in place. He said Edo State, though an oil-producing state, receives much less than other endowed states such as Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and even Ondo. He disclosed that the state was able to achieve much due to the governor’s passion for the development and his prudent management of resources.

In order to avoid being overwhelmed by the many projects seeking its attention, the government, as gathered from Special Adviser (Media) to the governor, Kassim Afegbua, has decided to complete ongoing projects before his second term elapses in 2016. Of top priority is the Benin City water storm aimed at curtailing the perennial floods in the city.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





EKITI

Fayemi Focuses on Transforming Ekiti

After about three and a half years of litigation over the governorship election in Ekiti State, the present administration came on board on October 16, 2010, which makes its own Democracy Day celebration different from other states.



However, on the day of his swearing-in ceremony, the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, reeled out his programmes for the four-year term. The eight-point agenda sought to address largely all the areas of interest in the state. According to him, the government would focus its attention mainly on agriculture, education, health, tourism, the road network, women empowerment, commerce and industry and youth employment opportunities.



Although it was quite clear that in the first year of the administration, it appeared there was nothing to celebrate as the government was still finding its feet, trying to locate where the problems of the people really lie, but the government in its second year had got a hang of business and resumed governance full blast.



Between the first and second years in office, the governor has been able to deliver above average on his promise to the people, which can be seen in the area of road construction, as well as other projects.



It is worthy of note that the road construction embarked on by the government, especially across some major towns in the state, including Ado-Ekiti, Ikere-Ekiti, Ado-Ifaki Road, Aramoko, Igede and Ilawe, among others have transformed the outlook of the state. This was carried alongside the electrification of the towns.





The government has also impacted on the people through agriculture, by engaging youths in commercial agriculture tagged, YCAD – Youth in Commercial Agricultural Development. The same youths have also been provided with employment through the establishment of a Youth Employment Agency, which has been able to absorb over 4,000 youths.

Besides, the bold step taken in the area of education still remains novel and commendable, with the slashing of tuition fees of students across all the tertiary institutions in the state by 50 per cent and the promise of qualitative education, which the governor has been able to achieve.



The free health mission introduced by the government on assumption of office is equally working in favour of the government as well as the residents, who no longer suffer treatable ailments.



At the moment, the government is embarking on the total renovation of all government hospitals in all the 16 council areas of the state; this is besides the state hospital under construction in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, to replace the teaching hospital.



Fayemi’s exploits in the area of commerce and industry have equally been noticeable, with the resuscitation of the moribund Ire burnt bricks located at Ire-Ekiti in the Ekiti North senatorial district of the state. The project had been abandoned by all successive governments in the past.



However, the area where the government has not been able to achieve much up till now is the area of provision of potable water for the people.

But efforts towards achieving this are in progress with the construction of some dams in the state.

One of Fayemi’s major challenges has been the vociferous nature of the opposition parties in the state. They have vigorously challenged the government over the N22 billion bond borrowed to execute some of its major projects.

THISDAY Assessment: Average



ENUGU

Slowed by Ill Health, Chime Hangs on to Power

In Enugu State, the last two years have experienced negative and positive developments especially in view of the avalanche of activities that have taken place in the state from both government and political circles.



Though the Sullivan Chime-led administration has continued to blow its trumpet of having transformed the landscape of the state in virtually all the sectors, including education, health care, public infrastructure and public service, yet the poor health of the governor and his insistence on hanging on to power has clearly dampened governance in the state.

The governor had in September last year left the state to attend to his failing health for almost five months, under controversial circumstances as no official statement on the whereabouts of the governor was made. This led to rumours and speculations, some of which even alleged that the governor had died.



The governor had told journalists shortly after his return to the state on February 8, 2013 that all the speculations about his health were false.



However, while the governor’s health may have affected activities of governance, the government insists that the present administration had held on to its four-point agenda, which is anchored on total transformation of the state.



For instance, the government has continued with its massive rehabilitation of roads within the Enugu metropolis as major streets and roads have been completed, while street lights have equally being fixed on the major roads. However, some road projects, especially the Ugwuogo-Nike Road, said to have commenced two years ago, Zik’s Avenue and Udi-Oji River Road are progressing at a very slow pace.



Perhaps what could pass as the major project embarked upon by the state in the past one year was the commencement of the construction of an ultra-modern state secretariat at a whooping cost of N13.1 billion. The government had embarked on the demolition of the old secretariat said to have been built mainly by the colonial masters and began the construction of a new one. Though that policy has been criticised from several quarters, since it is said that it was not provided for in the budget, the government appeared unperturbed and went ahead with the project.



Apart from the secretariat project, the government recently acquired and handed over 100 sedans and Hilux vans with full security and communication gadgets to the police and other security agencies in the state. The aim, according to the governor, was to help improve the security infrastructure in the state. Chime may have been forced to focus on security when the late Kwara State Police Commissioner, Mr. Chinwike Asadu, was killed in Enugu State. Though seven of his assailants have since been arrested and charged for murder by the police, this was a major setback for the Chime-led administration.



However, the major challenge of the government, THISDAY checks revealed may not be far from the issue of paucity of funds as government has continued to lament that the inadequate flow of funds to the state hampered some of its developmental initiatives.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





GOMBE

Gombe Feels Dankwambo’s Touch

Since his assumption of office on May 29, 2011, Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, has demonstrated unequalled skills in his revolutionary drive to transform the institutional framework of governance. Shortly after his election, he had set up various committees to articulate a road map for the development of the state.

Dankwambo has focused on human capital development and the evolution of an egalitarian society. In education, for instance, over N4 billion has been spent on capital projects within the first four months of the administration compared to the previous administration’s capital expenditure of N1.8 billion in eight years in the same sector.





Also, in its effort to advance the course of post-secondary education in the state, the government reportedly purchased 2,500 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) forms that were distributed to students, while it sponsored 200 students to the National Maritime College in Akwa Ibom State.



In its two years in office, Dankwambo’s administration has constructed 168 roads, including those that link the state with the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Borno. Also, 52 township roads and six inter-town roads, covering a total of 150 kilometres have been completed.



One of the major programmes of the administration is in youth development and empowerment drive. In his first year, government gave employment to 1,197 youths under its Youth Rehabilitation and Empowerment Programme (YREP). Some of them were posted out as environmental marshals, ward and state traffic marshals, and community sanitation and security workers.



It has also leveraged on the potential in the agriculture sector in its job creation drive. Government ordered over 55,000 tonnes of fertiliser that were sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of N2,000 per bag and provided 35 brand new tractors complete with accessories in addition to the refurbishing of 25 others inherited from the previous administration to boost mechanised farming that would easily attract youths to the sector.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





IMo

Okorocha: Much Drama, Modest Feats in Imo

The coming of Chief Rochas Okorocha as the governor of Imo State in May 29, 2011 was quite a surprise to the people of the state. This is so because it is not easy in Nigerian politics to defeat an incumbent. Starting out with the appointment of a plethora of aides including a Government House jester (comedian) and the creation of a fourth tier of government, Okorocha’s administration has been melodramatic right from the start.



But within the past two years of his administration, Okorocha has been able to record some milestones in parts of the state, especially in the area of road construction and rehabilitation, improvement in teachers’ welfare packages, construction and renovation of some structures, improvement in school buildings, free education at all levels in the state, as well as boosting civil servants’ morale.



His stewardship includes changing the face of some areas in Owerri, the capital city, and the rapid urbanisation of Orlu and Okigwe that would be used as possible alternate capitals in the event of the creation of another state in the South-east.





Other landmark achievements of the administration in last two years include the rehabilitation of Heroes Squares which used to be a cenotaph for parade, rehabilitation of commissioners’ quarters, Ikemba Ojukwu Square, building of the international conference centre at the premises of former Imo Hotels, construction of the Sam Mbakwe dual carriage way, construction of Owerri city schools at Wetheral Road, and construction of twin building housing the Offices of the Deputy Governor and First Lady.



Yet challenges persist. These include inadequacy of funds, inability of government to engage reputable companies to handle most of its projects, and the inability of government to match promises with physical action. This is so because the so-much-talked-about free education at the tertiary level appears to have encountered some difficulties. Some Imo citizens who attend the state-owned tertiary institutions are not favoured, while the lucky few were expected to pay an extra N20,000, in addition to the N100,000 government cheque given to them. The situation has worsened as those who did not benefit from the “largesse” now pay N120,000 per session instead of the N53,950 school fees which was paid before the introduction of the free education at the Imo State University.



A major blip of his administration was the manner Okorocha set about the task of getting rid of his former deputy, Jude Agbaso. In so doing, he turned his back on Jude’s older brother Martin who played a major role in ensuring his victory at the polls. By aligning with merging opposition coalition, All Progressives Congress (APC), he has also set about bulkanising the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the platform he used to actualise his ambition to become governor.

THISDAY Assessment: Average (talks more than he delivers)





JIGAWA

Lamido’s Niche is Uniting the State and Closing the Poverty Gap

When he took over the mantle of leadership as the governor of Jigawa State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after making up with his predecessor, Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, the ex-governor surrendered all his political structures to Governor Sule Lamido, which helped him solidify his control over the mainly agrarian state that is Jigawa.



Lamido did not waste time in identifying what he wanted as far as leadership was concerned. He contended with the challenges posed by Turaki’s decentralisation policy. The fact is that there were numerous problems on the ground inherited from both the then military administration in the state and Turaki’s decentralisation policy.

The policy unsettled governance in the state, even as it seriously suffered from internal divisions in the name of the emirate dichotomy of the people of Kazaure, Hadejia, Gumel and Ringim Emirates, who did not see themselves as bonafide indigenes of Jigawa and their main reason ever since in the state.



One of Lamido’s major achievements has been the abolition of the emirate dichotomy, which went further to stop people from singing songs with divisive lyrics and segregation themes.



After he had successfully rekindled the hopes of the Jigawa indigenes, Lamido quickly introduced the social reform policy as a means of tackling the battered condition of the disabled especially the blind, leprosy victims who were littering the streets and gave a very bad image of the state. They were settled in one place and the state government instantly approved a monthly allowance of N7,000 to each of them till date.



As part of his development agenda, Lamido in the last two years has continued with the rehabilitation of all the primary and post primary schools, and establishing tertiary institutions across the state, rehabilitation of all the roads, construction of new hospitals, construction of new housing estates, and the rehabilitation of dilapidated structures. To cap it all, an airport is now under construction in the state.

Credit must also be given to Lamido for managing to keep the Boko Haram insurgency at bay. Other than one recorded incident a month ago, Jigawa has been largely immune to the marauding forays of the terrorist sect.



Despite the relative peace achieved under his administration, Lamido has failed to reverse the debilitating effects of desert encroachment on farmlands in his state. This has stunted the agricultural potential of the state and deprived it of extra revenue other than monthly allocations shared at the centre.



Also, owing to the fact that Jigawa has a low rate of urbanisation and still has nine out of 10 people residing in rural areas, it is home to Nigeria’s poorest people, with an average per capita income of $853 (see table on Socioeconomic profile of Nigeria’s states).

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





KADUNA

Yero: A fledgling governor in search of bearing



Notwithstanding the change of baton in Kaduna State last December due to unforeseen circumstances, the administration of Alhaji Mukhtar Yero could widely be regarded as a continuation of that of his predecessor, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, who died in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State on December 15, 2012. With his death, Yero, who was his deputy, stepped into his shoes in line with the provision of the 1999 Constitution.



Although Yero is about six months in office and his administration is still finding its bearing, since he inherited all that the late Yakowa worked for and he was part of the vision for a better Kaduna being pursued by his late principal, it is fit and proper in assessing him bearing in mind the achievements and challenges faced by the previous administration.



The Yakowa administration, to which Yero was a vital part, was able to make some impact in the past two years in the areas of health, agriculture, education and road construction. In November last year, the late governor started the massive construction of urban and rural roads across the 23 local governments in the state.

The road projects cost about N30 billion and Yakowa was very passionate about the projects and closely monitored the contractors who were fully mobilised to commence work.



The 2013 budget was presented to the state House of Assembly before he assumed office and it took another two months for the house to pass the budget. With the passage of the budget, there were high expectations that the tempo of activities in the state would pick up.



This has not been so, especially with the road construction, which seems to have slowed down. Residents are complaining about the difficulties they are likely going to face with their roads still under construction as the rains approach.

The priority of the administration is peace, security and development; however, the security challenges bedevilling some states in the north seem to be one of the greatest challenges of the Yero administration.



Kaduna State has had its ugly share of Boko Haram terrorist attacks, particularly during the time of the late Yakowa. But while relative peace has returned to Kaduna city, following the coming of Yero as governor, there have been persistent attacks on rural communities in the south by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

This development in the southern part of the state, which started after the 2011 general election, has continued to pose a serious setback to the peace efforts by the state government. As a state that is sharply divided along ethnic and religious lines, the major challenge for any administration in Kaduna is how to ensure peace and security of lives and property.



One of the steps Yero has taken to ensure peace and stability is his peace tour, which took him to the three senatorial zones in the state where he met with both Muslim and Christian leaders and traditional rulers with his gospel of peace and tolerance between adherents of the two religious groups.



Critics of the administration say Yero came with a lot of goodwill and sympathy considering the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Yakowa, but the administration has not risen to the occasion to make its impact felt.

But the Director General, Media and Publicity to Yero, Mallam Ahmed Maiyaki, dismissed such criticisms, saying that such assessment was unfair. According to him, Yero’s achievements include the inauguration of vehicles with full communications gadgets as part of measures aimed at improving the security system in the state, as well as the distribution of 15 luxury buses, 35 mini buses, 40 taxis and 700 tricycles to beneficiaries at a subsidised rate under the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P).

THISDAY Assessment: Jury is still out





KANO

Kwankwaso’s Even Transformation Agenda

When Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso walked into the Government House on May 29, 2011, after he was declared the duly elected governor of the state, he left no one in doubt about his mission, vision and goals in his efforts at developing Kano State.



The Kwankwaso administration has made giant strides towards transforming the state by placing emphasis on human development and the provision of infrastructure.



Kwankwaso has impacted positively on all the sectors of the economy, from education, agriculture, health, environment, tourism and judiciary.

The government, within two years in power, has constructed 768 classroom blocks across the 44 local government areas of the state and equipped them with modern furniture and facilities.



In order to encourage enrolment into primary schools, the state government, through the Community Re-orientation Committee (CRC), introduced free-feeding programme in the schools, thus boosting enrolment by over 80 per cent.



It also provided free school uniforms to reduce the financial burden on parents and guardians, most of whom are peasant farmers and can hardly afford a meal day, not to talk of buying books for their children and wards.

The administration has also embarked on an empowerment programme to create job opportunities for the youths in a bid to take them off the streets where they could be recruited by anti-patriotic elements to cause a breach of the law. Some of the youths have been trained in institutes established by the government to provide them with skills in such areas such as fisheries, hospitality, entrepreneurship and farm mechanisation. Beneficiaries of the training programme, numbering about 400, have been empowered with bulls and ploughs as well as other articles of trade that would make them self employed.



The government has also spent N1.32 billion in the last two years for training and empowerment of women and youths across the agricultural value chain, of which over 154,838 people have benefitted from the training programmes.



In order to transform the state to the mega city of his vision and dream, the Kwankwaso administration has carved out three new modern cities, namely Bandirawo, Kwankwasiyya and Amana all located on the outskirts of Kano city and which have been provided with basic infrastructure such as roads, drainages, electricity, schools and motor parks, among others. The government has so far spent about N7.8 billion on the project.



In the agricultural sector, the administration has made remarkable progress, particularly with the rehabilitation of the state-owned fertiliser company, Kano State Agricultural Supply Company (KASCO), which will manufacture the state’s fertiliser requirements, as well as extend its produce to other neighbouring states and beyond.



To date, the Kwankwaso administration, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has already trained and graduated over 1,000 farmers in the art of ploughing, and using bulls and tractors in mechanised farming.

The health sector has also witnessed massive transformation since the inception of the Kwankwaso-led administration, as the state has this year recorded zero poliomyelitis cases.



The achievement followed the state government’s consistent enlightenment campaign for parents and guardians to voluntarily release their children and wards for polio immunisation.

Apart from that, the state government introduced free ante-natal care for all women, as well as free medicare for the aged.

Under another scheme in the health sector tagged “Lafiya Jari”, over 500 health technology graduates were trained and given N50,000 each as seed capital to rent patent medicine shops, while an additional N100,000 each was given to them to stock their shops with drugs.



Besides, the state government has constructed not less than two health centres in each local government areas in its efforts to bring health care delivery to the grassroots.



The judiciary is also not left out in Kwankwaso’s even transformation agenda as more courts have been constructed and equipped with the necessary amenities. Judges were also given new cars to motivate them to ensure the speedy dispensation of justice.



Among Kwankwaso’s landmark achievements include the harmonisation of all Quranic schools with western education to ensure that school leavers are employable in the labour market. To this effect, a committee was set up by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, which is to spend N7 million for the take-off of the project.



The Kwankwaso administration within two years is also set to complete the construction of flyover bridges at Silver Jubilee, Gidan Murtala and Ibrahim Taiwo Roads in Kano, which are aimed at decongesting traffic flow in the state capital.



In order to finance the state government’s projects, it has revitalised the machinery for revenue generation and this has led to a rise in internally generated revenue of the state.

Kano State, however, has not been immune to attacks from Boko Haram adherents. In addition to Kaduna, Kano has witnessed some of the worst attacks in the North-western zone, chief of which was the multiple bomb explosions in the city in 2011 and the ghastly attack at a motor park early this year.

Even the traditional rulers in the north’s most vibrant state have not been immune to attacks, as an assassination attempt was made on Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, in the beginning of the year.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





KATSINA

Shema Remains Committed to Continuity

Six years down the line, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema has carried on with the task of ensuring the rapid development of Katsina State. His administration has paid attention to linking different parts of the state through the provision of a good road network to improve trade and investment that would lead to the economic empowerment of the people.



With his re-election in 2011, he has increased the tempo of activities in different sectors of the state’s economy through the provision of infrastructure, revamping the education and health care sectors as well as agriculture.



Right from his assumption of office in 2007, Shema has shown a passion for the education sector. He employed the services of educationists from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to provide a blueprint to boost education in the state.

The idea was to come up with a system that would facilitate state access to education and attract more people to schools so that literacy and indeed, independence which education guarantees, would be available to all, regardless of social status.



Based on the report of the consultants, who identified the need to provide a conducive learning environment as the first step in getting more people to be interested in going to school, the administration embarked on the massive construction of buildings for primary schools all over the state to replace the dilapidated ones.



He also turned his attention to the secondary and tertiary levels through the provision of facilities and equipment for the schools. The administration has also remained committed to its efforts to give the state a befitting Government House. Various contracts have been awarded to ensure the timely completion of the new Government House, which is scheduled for completion by the end of June.

Like most of its counterparts whose state economies witness low activities, the state government is faced with funds paucity in executing its programme. The Shema administration has however done all it can to broaden the state’s revenue base as a means of increasing internally generated revenue.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





KEBBI

For Dakingari, Emphasis is on Rural Development

Kebbi State Governor, Saidu Usman Dakingari, has been steering the affairs of Kebbi State in the last six years. Being a rural state, when compared to others in the federation, Dakingari embarked on the massive construction of primary and secondary schools as well as training of teachers with a view to making education affordable and accessible for all.



Following the setting up of a committee to review conditions in the education sector early in office, Dakingari rehabilitated over 840 primary schools in the 21 local government areas of the state at the cost of over N1 billion. Similarly, five new science secondary schools were constructed at the cost of N2.7 billion, while 200 secondary schools were established across the 21 local government areas of the state at the cost of N120 million each.

The Dakingari administration, in collaboration with traditional and community leaders, also embarked on the support of girl child education in the state.

The health sector also witnessed some positive changes, as the state government worked towards ensuring that the primary health schemes were supported by a strong preventive scheme, particularly for diseases that often plague the people and sometimes break into epidemics. So far, six General Hospitals have been constructed, 16 existing General Hospitals were also renovated while seven primary centres were upgraded to the status of General Hospitals, coupled with the construction of new primary health centres in all the 23 local councils in the state at the cost of over N7.6 billion.

The Kebbi State government also expended huge resources in the construction of roads particularly in rural communities. So far, the government has spent over N15 billion on roads in rural communities in the last four years. This included the 66 km Kingakwai-Fana Road, 106km Bunza-Zogirma-Kuka-Gulma-Natsini Road, 50km Liba-Aida-Kwaifa-Giro, Rafin Atiku junction-Makerar Gandu, Kofa Sabuwa-Takalau Road, 27 km Gindi Sambawa Gamjeji Road, 21km Sabongarin-Goru-Kardi Badawa Road, 20km Bagudo junction Tuga Bridge Road; and the construction of three bridges along Malado-Ngaski Road and two bridges along Bunza-Zogirma-Natsini Road, among others.



In the last two years, the state government has provided 480 functional motorised boreholes, 100 solar-powered boreholes and 2,500 hand pumps, while the upgrade of 14 rural water schemes to semi-urban schemes across the state have been completed.



Thus, in order to consolidate on the natural advantage of surface water reserves, the governor had in January this year, distributed 10,000 water pumps to farmers to boost dry season agricultural production. Dakingari pledged that he would procure additional pumps, to ensure that more farmers benefitted from the programme. The exercise was meant to boost food security and generate employment for the estimated 85 per cent farming population. Government also installed thousands of hand-pumps to provide safe drinking water to rural communities across the state to reduce scarcity as well as the risk of contracting water borne diseases among the people.



However, despite all these, the people of Kebbi State still contend with access to potable water especially in the state capital. The governor, hitherto, had laid emphasis on massive road construction in rural areas while the roads in the state capital were not given priority and are now in a deplorable state.



Although the state government channelled huge resources in the education and health sectors, the required medical personnel and manpower to man those facilities are still absent due to poor remuneration and motivation.

Moreover, workers in Kebbi State are not well taken care of by the present government in terms of enhancing their welfare. In fact, primary school teachers are yet to benefit from the N18,000 minimum wage including their entitlements. So civil servants see the present government as a one-man show that does not have the interest of workers at heart.

THISDAY Assessment: Average





KOGI

Wada: Turning Flood Disaster into Bumper Harvest

Having assumed office as the governor of Kogi State in January 2012, Captain Idris Wada in the last 16 months have indeed been traumatised, as the state witnessed natural and man-made disasters that had a profound impact on the government and people of the state.



Kogi State experienced one of the worst flood disasters in the history of the country. Situated on the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue, the state is yet to fully recover from the impact of the floods on 2012.



Revealing the extent of the damage done to human and material resources of the state by the impact of floods, Wada’s deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, told the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation that in the wake of the floods, over 623,690 people were displaced, 61,775 houses were destroyed and 304,775 hectares of farmlands washed away across nine local government councils. He stated that 87 refugee camps were established to cater for the displaced persons.



Although over N1.6 billion was raised to assist the victims of the disaster. It was found to be grossly inadequate. To compound the flooding disaster, Wada’s convoy was involved in an auto accident last December. Although he survived the crash, his ADC, Idris Mohammed, died on the spot. His subsequent hospitalisation and period of recovery no doubt slowed down the pace of governance in the state.



But it has not all been challenges. The floods of last year triggered a new agro initiative as the Wada administration embarked on aggressive dry season irrigation rice farming, exploiting the flooded river banks of Niger and Benue into fertile rice farmlands. This cost the state government over N178 million, to mitigate the effects of the disaster on the victims.

The Kogi State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) said the state is expecting a bumper harvest of over 40,000 metric tonnes of rice from the dry season rice farming.

The Managing Director of ADP, Dr. Ameh Onoja, told THISDAY that the government provided the farmers with all the needed inputs, such as land preparations, seedlings, fertiliser and technical advice. Wada said his administration was ready to guarantee the security of investors willing to partner the government in its agricultural programme.



In the area on security, nonetheless, Wada’s administration has been found wanting. Under his watch, suspected members of the terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, occasionally made forays into his state, attacking churches and killing their worshipers. In December 2012, his state also had the ignominy of witnessing the attack on Mali-bound military troops by members of the Ansaru sect, which left two soldiers dead and four injured.



In terms of development, Kogi remains rustic and still has a long way to go in terms of becoming a modern city-state. Like his predecessors, Wada has failed to take advantage of the tourism potential of the state despite the advantages two of Nigeria’s largest rivers offer the state.

THISDAY Assessment: Below average (unable to break away from former Governor Ibrahim Idris)



KWARA

Ahmed Anchors Growth on Agriculture

Growing from the solid platform provided by his immediate predecessor in office, the present administration in Kwara State led by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has tried his best to meet the yearnings and aspiration of its citizens, essentially because Ahmed was part of the eight-year administration of former Governor Bukola Saraki.



Ahmed, fondly called by his supporters and admirers “Magida”, has touched the lives of Kwarans since he assumed office two years ago. It must be noted that the administration which anchored its programmes for the state on the “Legacy Continues’, has completed all projects left behind by the former governor.



Ahmed has also initiated new ones, thereby adding value to the socioeconomic development of the state in the last two years of the administration.



Within his first year in office, Ahmed not only effectively positioned Kwara as the emerging hub for agriculture in the country but has also facilitated tremendous in-flow of foreign direct investment into agriculture. These initiatives include the N70 billion Vasolar Rice Project and a $150 million cassava processing complex.

These achievements are the products of the Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), a four-year rolling plan, which forms the framework for accelerating the state’s economic development, developed at the inception of the administration.

From the MTSS comes shared prosperity, the Ahmed administration’s inter-connected policy programme designed to economically empower the people of Kwara State and is aimed at creating inclusive prosperity for all stakeholders through agriculture, human capital development and youth empowerment, strategic infrastructure and effective governance under shared prosperity.



Ahmed has implemented several life-transforming programmes such as the innovative Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES), under which the government employed 2,000 youths within 100 days of assuming office; construction and rehabilitation of more than 200 secondary classrooms; the introduction of free education at basic and senior secondary school levels; the on-going phased rehabilitation of 16 general hospitals into state-of-the-art health care facilities; as well as the construction of 20 comprehensive health facilities. In addition, the administration is about to complete five out of the 16 general hospitals earmarked for renovation in the state. They are the general hospitals in Ilorin, Share, Offa, Kaima and Omu-Aran.



Also, to make government business more efficient and the public service effective, Ahmed introduced performance contracts, a public service reform programme which includes a service charter and openness across all strata of government.

By and large, nonetheless, finance remains an obstacle to the full realisation of all the needs of the people due to a low revenue base. But the administration has taken the bull by the horn to generate more funds through internally generated revenue, while all the state-owned companies and parastatals have been consolidated for proper revenue generation so as to meet the needs of Kwara State in subsequent years.

THISDAY Assessment: Average



LAGOS

There’s No Stopping the Fashola Express

Lagos State has witnessed rapid rejuvenation since the advent of the administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola. Although the transformation of the country’s commercial capital began under the administration of former Governor Bola Tinubu, to whom Fashola was chief of staff before his election in 2007 and re-election in 2011, Fashola has done so much to build on the legacy of his predecessor to give Lagos a facelift.



Amid many daunting challenges that came with the status of Lagos as a megacity state, coupled with a population that puts considerable pressure on its infrastructure, the Fashola administration has through dogged determination and a clear focus, been able to rise to the occasion. The administration has achieved so much in many sectors of the state’s economy, especially in the area of infrastructure, environment and transportation that it has become a reference point on how to improve on the well-being of the people.



In terms of infrastructure renewal, the administration has just completed the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, an imposing structure designed to ease traffic congestion on Lekki-Epe road. Built under a public-private partnership arrangement, the bridge, about 1.8km long, will be unveiled today (May 29) to mark Nigeria’s 14th anniversary of civil rule. In addition, many inner-city road projects have been constructed while some are still under construction in different parts of the state.

The administration has also done well in intensifying the construction of other strategic projects, including the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Lekki International Airport, Lekki-Epe Road, Light Rail (blue line), Mile 12-Ikorodu road and Eko Atlantic City scheme, among others.



Under his administration, more than 2,700 units of houses have been built; though there are complaints that the houses are not affordable. But the state government said it faced the challenge of allocating the houses in such a way that those who need them would actually get them. It also cited poor investment drive since the economic downturn of 2009 as one of the reasons for not providing affordable houses to the people.



In the area of the environment, the administration has intensified efforts at tackling perennial flooding to prevent a recurrence of the tragic July 10, 2011 rainfall that caused massive flooding across the state, leading to the loss of lives and destruction of property. This it is doing through its de-flooding programme that has led to work going on in more than 200 drainage projects apart from channels and canals that have been completed.



As part of its programme in the environmental sector, the government has embarked on various beautification projects to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the state and lighting of major roads to boost security.



The administration has also demonstrated a strong will to ensure public order and safety. This includes the enactment of the controversial Lagos Road Traffic Law, which the state government said, has brought down the crime rate and accidents in the state.

In education and health sectors, the administration has been strengthening functional institutions, building enduring structures and developing human capital, which it considered strategic to realising the state’s 10-point agenda. This is evident in the massive construction and re-equipping of public hospitals and schools for optimum performance.



However, despite its efforts, the administration is facing serious challenges in getting the people to buy into some of its programmes. For example, the Lagos Road Traffic Law that led to the restriction in the operation of commercial motorcycles was severely criticised by many. The new rent edict has also been difficult to enact.



Irrespective of its achievements, the state despite its huge revenue, both from the Federation Account and internally generated revenue (IGR) was estimated at N29 billion a month in 2012, has not raked up enough funds to execute some of its projects. The funding gap, in some cases, has forced the Fashola administration to scale down some projects, such as the light rail project, in order not to embark on projects that it would not complete within its remaining time in office.

THISDAY Assessment: Good performance





NASARAWA

Al-Makura Still Battling with the Basics

The present administration of Governor Tanko Umaru Almakura has been described as the “messiah” of Nasarawa State. This is so because since the advent of his administration, he has provided quite a number of basic necessities of life to the people of the state. These include the provision of water and electricity supply by procuring water equipment and transformers to boost electricity supply even to some communities which had hitherto lived in darkness.



Lafia, the state capital, is now looking slightly better due to the massive construction of street roads and upgrading of other infrastructure. In fact, Lafia, which hitherto looked like a glorified local government headquarters, is gradually assuming the status befitting of a state capital with several roads tarred and traffic lights installed at some designated points to ease vehicular and human movement.

In addition, with the provision of drugs to hospitals, construction of school buildings and promotion of peace and harmony, the peace was however shattered by the recent killing of over 50 security personnel by the Ombatse cult group in the state.



Public opinion has rated performance of governor Al-Makura high. Analysts say that the upgrade of infrastructure in the state, particularly the construction of massive roads in Lafia; improvement in water and electricity supply; and repositioning of the state civil service and prompt payment of the new minimum wage of N18,900.00 to workers are the most notable achievements of the Al-Makura administration in the last two years.



Still, given the closeness of Nasarawa to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Al-Makura, like his predecessors, has failed to capitalise on the comparative advantage that the location of his state offers. Nasarawa, several pundits observe, has an excellent climate and topography to serve as the food basket of the FCT, which boasts the highest disposable income in the country.



Through agriculture, agro-based industries and tourism, the state could also create employment opportunities for thousands of people from Nasarawa who often rely on Abuja for jobs.

THISDAY Assessment: Below average





NIGER

Babangida Aliyu Works Towards a Big Vision

Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has stepped up efforts to prepare the state in meeting its Vision 3:2020. As daunting as the challenge of making the state one of the top three economies in Nigeria by 2020, he has not allowed the obvious handicap of low revenue deter him.

The governor, since his re-election in 2011, has refocused attention on laying the foundation that could lead to the realisation of the vision five years after his exit from power. The key approach to the realisation of the objective is the government’s belief that human capital development is the surest path to achieving the objective. It is in line with this objective that the Aliyu administration has paid much attention to the education sector.



The administration’s policy of free education, which the governor has re-tuned since his re-election, has led to a significant rise in school enrolment in public schools from about 650,000 in the past to about 1.7 million.



Like some of its counterparts in other states of the federation, the Aliyu administration is also responsible for paying the fees of students sitting for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) examinations.

The governor is striving to boost socio-economic activities in the state through infrastructure projects, especially the provision of a good road network in some major towns in the state. Under this scheme, the government has dualised roads in Minna, the state capital, Kontagora and Bida. It has also embarked on the construction of a 10-kilometre road in the 25 local government areas in the state. Some of the roads have been fitted with traffic lights to reduce accidents and control vehicular movement.



The Aliyu administration has also provided 15 mass transit buses and 1,000 tricycles to cushion the effects of the ban on commercial motorcycle operations in Minna.



In the area of agriculture, the state purchased seedlings and distributed to farmers at subsidised rates while fertiliser was given to farmers at a 70 per cent discount. Besides, the administration purchased 100 tractors for distribution to the 25 local government areas for hiring by farmers in order to encourage mechanised farming that could increase yields and make the exercise more profitable for those engaged in agriculture.

In the health sector, the Aliyu administration has built and equipped three general hospitals located in Nasko, Wuse and Gulu while several clinics have been upgraded to general hospitals in other parts of the state.



The state also provides free medicare for pregnant women, children from infancy to age five and the aged from 70 years and above. It has also conducted surgery for people with eye problems and provided glasses for those that are in need.

Aliyu’s efforts in some of these areas have led to the state being adjudged the best state in the area of carrying out its MDGs projects.

The governor, through constant engagement with religious and political leaders, has been able to tackle the insecurity menace caused by the infiltration of Boko Haram into the state. The government’s approach and liaison with security agents have led to a significant reduction in the operation of Boko Haram terror cells in Niger State.



However, the administration has been handicapped in executing some of its projects due to the paucity of funds. With low internally generated revenue, the state is largely dependent on allocations from the Federation Account, which is barely enough to meet the state’s recurrent expenditure.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





OGUN

Amosun Pursues Urban Renewal with Vigour

in Ogun

Shortly after Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, signed the 2013 budget of N211.8 billion, the tone of his second year in office was set.

The budget, which was tagged ‘Sustainable Growth’, comprises N118.23 billion capital expenditure (56%) and N93.64 billion (44%) recurrent.



The governor centred his governance on five cardinal programmes that comprises: affordable qualitative education, efficient health care delivery, increased agricultural production/industrialisation, affordable housing and urban renewal, and rural and infrastructure development/employment generation.



Amosun, who on assumption of office in 2011, had said infrastructure was one of the major concerns of his government, has concentrated more on the construction of roads and fly-overs in the state.



The governor has also made the issue of poverty and youth unemployment a major issue of his administration. And on this, he has recorded giant strides in the area of poverty alleviation through youth employment schemes in the state. But the governor’s employment scheme is not restricted to the youths as it cuts across the professionals in various fields of endeavour.



Under his urban renewal initiative, he embarked on the massive demolition of houses aimed at paving the way for the construction of 300km of road in 2012 and 2013, as well as changing the face of the state. The demolition exercise preceded construction of road projects, which are ongoing simultaneously in about seven locations in the state, including Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ado-Odo Ota and Ilaro axis, among others, while the 28km Ilo-Awela Road to the border town would be cut across four local government areas.

Although most of the roads as well as fly-overs would not be ready for inauguration by May 29, as promised, the governor has assured indigenes that the projects will be inaugurated in October. Nonetheless, the governor has inaugurated some projects like the Ibara flyover linking Lalubu Road with Ibara/Ita Eko/Sokori/Totoro Roads, which is first of its kind in the state capital.



In the area of health care, among other successes is the purchase of four new state-of-the-art ambulances and refurbished 10 basic life support ambulances to help reduce fatalities and other complications resulting from road accidents and other emergencies.

In addition to health care, the governor is rehabilitating and building new model primary and secondary schools in most of the wards in the state. These are meant to complement hundreds of missionary schools, which were handed back to their original owners by his predecessor, Gbenga Daniel. He also intends to merge the plethora of state tertiary institutions and polytechnics into one institution that would be refocused on providing qualitative education at the tertiary level.



In the area of the state’s finances, Amosun, in a space of two years, has raised internally generated revenue from N730 million a month to N4 billion monthly, thus increasing his total revenue base by over 40 per cent. This has largely been achieved through improved tax collection and the drive by his administration to get Lagos workers resident in Ogun to pay their pay-as-you-earn taxes to his state. His effort, nonetheless, to get the neighbouring Lagos State to pay what it owes the state in back taxes has proved to be unsuccessful.



Meanwhile, a major challenge faced by the governor is in the area of security, as armed robbers for a while literally held the state by the jugular as their frequent attacks forced the banks to shut down for a considerable time. Amosun admitted that this poses its own challenges to the state.



In response, he placed a high premium on security, launched a state security fund similar to Lagos, and embarked on massive investment in security equipment such as the armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and Hilux vans fitted with modern communication gadgets, among others.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average





ONDO

Mimiko’s Era of Consolidation

Due to the circumstances that led to the declaration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as the governor of Ondo State in February 2009, May 29 has ceased to be the anniversary of the government in the state. Instead, the government marks its anniversary every February 24th, the day Mimiko was inaugurated after the Court of Appeal pronounced him the legitimate winner of the April 2007 governorship election in the state.



During his swearing-in in 2009, Mimiko premised his agenda on a 12-point cardinal programme with an acronym “A CARING HEART,” with each letter representing what the government intended to do in specific sector of the state economy.

In his first four years in office, the administration executed various projects and programmes in areas that fall under its acronymic agenda of Agriculture; City and Urban Renewal; Roads and Infrastructure; Industrialisation; No to Poverty; Gender Equality and Women Empowerment; Health and Housing; Education; Artisanship Development and Empowerment; Rural Development; and Tourism and Youths Development.



Before the end of the first term, the administration had also put in place machinery for the implementation of the aggressive capitalisation of land resources with the establishment of an agency for effective land administration in the state.

The governor, who believed his stewardship in his first term earned him the confidence of the electorate that extended his tenure in the October 20, 2013 governorship poll, proudly declared during his inauguration for a second term that he would focus on completing many of the projects he started in his first term.



Since he was sworn in on February 25, 2013 for the second term, the administration has not embarked on any new projects or programmes. The two major official engagements of the administration were the launch of the State Residency Card, called “Kaadi Igbe Ayo,” that started during his first term and the inauguration of the mechanic’s village, the construction of which also started during his first term.



Though no new projects have been awarded, work has resumed on the phase two of the dualisation of Owo Township Road and the Trauma Centre being built within the vicinity of the Mother and Child Hospital, Ondo. Also, contractors are gradually returning to sites for the dualisation of Ondo Township Road as well as the Akure-Oba-Ile-Airport Road.



The slow pace of activities of government since Mimiko began his second term however has been blamed on distractions and controversies that trailed the last governorship election. This also delayed the constitution of the state executive council that would have assisted the governor in piloting the affairs of the state.

As at the time of filling this report, the House of Assembly was yet to commence deliberation on the list of commissioners-designate sent by the governor.

THISDAY Assessment: Good performance in health care





OSUN

Aregebsola on a Quest to Tackle Unemployment

The administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State could be regarded as unusual because at the announcement of his electoral victory on November 27, 2010, the governor had announced the six-point action plan of his administration which bordered on poverty allevation, banishment of hunger, employment creation, inter-community relations, road rehabilitation and security.

Despite his loquacious nature, Aregbesola has impacted positively on the people of Osun State by tackling unemployment,



education, flooding and road construction, among other areas.

The administration has generated 2,000 jobs through the Osun-Youth Empowerment Scheme (O-YES). And since then, several schemes with the ‘O’ prefix have been introduced. Some of them include O-School, O-Meal, O-Clean, etc, and all of these have been geared at youths to reduce unemployment.



The present government has also demonstrated its commitment to road development and that explains why the road network in the state has improved.

The present government has also lifted education to enviable heights by building standard classrooms and the provision of “Opon--Imo” which has positioned the state for educational growth.



Other areas are the commitment to intra and inter-community relations. However, Aregbesola has deliberately chosen to steer clear of judicial issues to allow justice to take its course while the government has brought unity and harmony to all the ethnic groups in the state.



In the area of revenue generation, the present government has moved from what it used to obtain in the past when a meagre N300 million was generated monthly to over N800 million monthly, with its sights set on increasing IGR to N1 billion as part of the financial re-engineering going on in the state.



Given that Osun is one of the poorest states in the country, Aregbesola’s chief challenge is funding.

THISDAY Assessment: Above average



OYO

Ajimobi Sets Sights on Urban Renewal

Since assuming office, Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has not left anybody in doubt on his programme.



Two years down the line, he has been able to overcome some of the teething challenges faced by his administration at inception to enable him effectively focus on the task of governance.



One major area where the Ajimobi administration has made the most impact so far has been to give Ibadan, the state capital, a facelift with the construction of a flyover to ease the chaotic traffic at the Mokola intersection.



Another achievement of the Ajimobi administration is the beautification project. The beautification of roundabouts and the employment of sweepers to keep the streets clean on a 24-hour basis have given major parts of the state a new ambience. He has altered the image of the state capital through the provision of refuse vans and has moved it away from its filthy culture.



One other feat of the administration is the restoration of peace in Ibadan, which used to be a hotbed of violence caused by contending camps in the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). The administration was forced to wield the big stick on the NURTW menace when its member killed some people. The union was proscribed, enabling to peace return. A joint patrol of security personnel codenamed Operation Burst is also on hand at all times to secure lives and property.



However, one of Ajimobi’s major challenges is the inter-party acrimony that arose from the failed union between his Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government and the rival Accord Party (AP), led by one of his predecessors, Senator Rashidi Ladoja. Ajimobi, acting on the virulent attacks on his government by Ladoja, has relieved all the former governor’s appointees from his cabinet. A ceremony where some politicians were supposed to defect from the ruling ACN and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) later turned violent.

There is also growing disenchantment among his party members who believe he has not been attending to their welfare. This has led to protests in the past over some government policies and programmes.



In terms of broadening his revenue base, Ajimobi has been found wanting as he has not been to capitalise on Ibadan’s population density and businesses to increase the state’s IGR. As a result, the governor had an onerous task squaring up against the workers of his state when the labour unions insisted on the full implementation of the minimum wage in 2012.

THISDAY Assessment: Average but promising



PLATEAU

Jang: Stunted by Ethno-religious Crises

Right from the outset of his administration, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State preferred to remain quiet about his achievements, saying it was better if independent observers appreciated his transformation and developmental strides that have directly impacted the people of the state since he assumed office.



Indeed, external observers finally gave him a pass mark when the Nigerian Good Governance tour visited the state. The leader of the tour, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, remarked that for Jang, so much has been done with little advertisement, adding that if the state was not riddled with crises, the governor would have achieved much more.



One of the major giant strides in the last two years has been the completion of the Zaria Road Stadium to an Olympic sized facility, a feat, which even the opposition camp has acknowledged, especially as the project was abandoned for 28 years ago.



The handling of workers’ crises over the minimum wage is another area the governor is perceived to have handled creditably. The local government and tertiary institutions’ workers had raged fiercely against the governor over the minimum wage, but today Jang was able to amicably resolve the issues, enabling the workers to go back to work.



The recent award of contracts and commencement of work on the construction of three major flyovers in Jos, in addition to an earlier one he constructed at Gada-Biu, where traffic gridlocks had become a menace, is another commendable stride. By the time the work, which has gradually commenced, is completed at the old airport junction, secretariat junction and British-American junction, the nightmarish traffic jams will become a thing of the past in Jos.



Also worthy of note is the dualisation of Rayfield Road to link Yelwa Club round about in Bukuru, as well as the dualisation of Lamingo Road leading to the permanent site of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

In spite of the torrential rainfall and the attendant flooding that wreaked havoc across the state and the trouble that came with several attacks on the state, which caused huge distractions for the governor, especially with the killings of two lawmakers and several others, Jang is perceived to overcome the odds in Plateau.



The seeming resolution of the ethno-religious crises through several peace talks between the indigenous tribes and the Hausa/Fulani settlers, especially in Plateau North and Plateau South senatorial districts has brought relative peace to the state.

However, Plateau State remains a tinderbox where cattle rustling and ethno-religious clashes still flare up on a regular basis. In the last year, dozens of people have been killed or displaced in communities in the state, while the distrust of the Special Task Force (STF) deployed in Plateau to maintain peace has grown among the citizens and residents of the state. In addition, Plateau has not been immune to Boko Haram attacks, as the terrorists have tried to take advantage of age-old ethno-religious tensions to trigger reprisals.

THISDAY Assessment: Below average





The continuation

Governors’ Mid-Term Review: A SPECIAL Report (2)





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