The Governor of Bauchi State His Excellency Senator Bala Mohammed said his administration is committed to delivering dividends of democracy as” we intend to fulfill our campaign promises”
He was speaking during an event to mark the one year administration of the PDP in the state.
Governor Bala said “despite dwindling financial purse and a global pandemic that have altered its plans, so many successes have been recorded in the areas of roads, schools and hospital constructions, expansion of water systems, improving access to health care delivery, youth and women empowerment among others.”
According to him, the administration recognises that without roads, an agrarian society like Bauchi will never realise its full potentials and trade, commerce and full society will be in jeopardy. Moreover, there will be no incentive for investors to come. Thus, in its determination to provide the much-desired dividends of democracy, Government wasted no time in commencing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of critical urban roads; that have immediate impact in enhancing traffic flow in Bauchi city and Azare.
Similarly, some carefully selected state roads that provide vital inter local government connectivity are also receiving concerted attention.
In Bauchi metropolis, two bypasses were identified and awarded and have now been completed, namely:
The Design and Construction of 6.2Km Sabo Kaura to Jos Road, was awarded at the cost of N2,230,774,265.99; Which is alos 92 percent complete.
Furthermore the design and Construction of 4.4Km Gombe Road by-pass to Tirwun, along Maiduguri Road at the cost of N2,581,199,115.19, which has now been completed while the 1.4km Muda Lawan Market dual carriage road and the 1.8Km Yakubun Bauchi Quarters link road is also 90 percent complete.
In Azare town, two contracts for the design and construction of strategic township roads, namely: the 1.8 km Tafawa Balewa Road and the 1.5 km Hospital which were awarded at the cost of N1,019,107,285.24 are now completed.
He said two major roads were also awarded; one in the southern senatorial district and another one in the Central Senatorial District. These are: The design and construction of the 16Km Sade – Akuyam Road which links Darazo and Misau Local Government Areas; awarded to Messrs Habibu Engineering Nig. Ltd at the cost of N3,067,463,000.00, which is 90 percent complete and the design and construction of the 58.4 Km Yelwan Duguri – Tora – Badaran Dutse – Birim – Bajama – Kundak – Wurno Road linking Alkaleri and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas, awarded to Messrs Triacta Nig. Ltd at the cost of N8,906,577,723.00, which is also 50 percent complete. Both contracts have completion periods of 18-months and fifty percent down payment have been made to the contractors.
To tackle the issue of water, the administration inherited the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (NUWSRP3), a World Bank supported Project which is expected to resolve the water supply challenge of Bauchi metropolis for the next one decade. However, at the inception of the administration, it was found out that the speed with which the Project was being executed was unbelievably slow. Government mustered the political will to kick-start the project and approached the World Bank, to make time-line adjustments to accommodate delays in take-off.
The Government also strengthened supervision of the Project by re-constituting the Board of Directors of the Bauchi State Urban Water and Sewerage Corporation. With these measures taken, the Project is now on course.
While the project goes on, government is executing a contingency measure to improve the water supply situation in the metropolis.
Measures taken included the reactivation of boreholes-based water schemes of Barkumbo, Lushi, Rafin Zurfi and Zango/Gudum. Others are the overhauling of one (1) No. 1,500KVA generating set at Gubi Water Treatment Plant, the rehabilitation of the 800mm diameter transmission mains from the Treatment Plant at Warinje reservoir and attending to leakages within the distribution network.
The administration has in the last 12 months constructed 13 new community water supply schemes, rehabilitated 160 hand pump boreholes and installed 48 solar motorized water supper schemes, among other projects embarked upon to alleviate the problem of water supply that had bedeviled many of the communities before the inception of the administration.
Housing is not neglected and to cater for the needs of its population of more than seven million, government came up with an ambitious plan for the New Bauchi city. This is a massive Housing project secured by the administration in collaboration with Family Homes Fund, a subsidiary of the Federal Ministry of Finance. It involves the construction of 2,500 Housing units of 3 and 2 Bedrooms in the State, to be distributed accordingly: Bauchi 1,500 units; Azare 350 units; Misau 250 units; Ningi 200 units; Dass 100 units and Jama’are 100 units.
The ground breaking foundation laying ceremony has since taken place and construction sites handed over to the contractors across the six emirates council of the state.
The project enjoys a four-year re-payment moratorium with a tenor of 12 to 15 years. When completed, the city will have its infrastructure, worship centres, shopping areas, schools, filling stations, a dedicated hospital and police station.
In the areas of health, steady progress is being made towards equipping each of the 323 electoral wards in the state with at least one functional primary health care centre. In this regard, ability to create the trust environment with our development partners has yielded great dividends.
v In collaboration with UNICEF, 43 PHC facilities across the state were renovated.
v In collaboration with the World Bank, under the AF-NSHIP, a total of 203 PHCs, spread across 10, out of the 20 local government areas in the state, have been upgraded and stocked with medical consumables and payment of staff bonuses aimed at enhancing supervision by local government primary health care departments.
v The complete rehabilitation and re-equipping of a minimum of one General Hospital in each of the 20 LGAs, aimed at extending quality healthcare services to the doorsteps of the people
v Introduction of highly competitive welfare packages to doctors, pharmacists, nurses and indeed all health workers; aimed at redressing the gross imbalance in the doctor-patient ratio, a factor that has had serious adverse effect on healthcare delivery in the state
v Aggressive public enlightenment campaign resulted in 1.4 million children under the age of five years and 300, 000 women being vaccinated, during the 2019 Maternal and New-born Child-health Week
v The administration is re-negotiating the Quadripartite Partnership on Primary Healthcare with a clear determination to eliminating performance deficits such as lack of reliable data, fragmented management structure, lack of accountability and insufficient resource allocation which collectively, constituted serious impediments to its actualisation, within the stipulated timeframe
v Payment of N333m counterpart contribution to development partners
In the power sector the Government’s strategy is to provide palliative measures, in the short run while hoping that the efforts of the DISCOs will eventually translate to reliable power supply, in the long run. Towards this end, Government has taken steps to settle debts owed to the discos before it came on board last May. Other measures taken by the Government include:
Procurement and installation of transformers in several locations all over the state
Restoration of electricity to communities that had been yanked off the power grid and consequently, thrown into darkness, for over two years, due to the disruption to the high- tension lines serving those areas.
Settlement of the inherited contractual liabilities, or the electrification of some areas in Alkaleri LGA.
On the aspect of youth empowerment, the Bala led administration resolved to address the huge social crisis engendered by unemployment and other issues, from the outset. In addition to making education affordable, the Government resolved to promote vocational education as an effective panacea to joblessness and social vices. Some major achievements in this area include:
Training of 500 unemployed youths in the following areas of skills acquisition: welding/fabrication of farm tools; animal traction; goat/sheep rearing; poultry production and information/communication technology (ICT). Other areas are handset repairs, computer engineering/repairs and MS Word operations. They also received training in hair dressing, tailoring, petty business, furniture production and fish farming. This was done in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund, ITF.
Training of 45 ex-convicts in various forms of skills acquisition. This was done in collaboration with the Office of the Wife of His Excellency, the Executive Governor
Sponsorship of youth with disabilities, to participate in para soccer and athletics locally
Active promotion of private sector collaboration in sports promotion and sponsorship; a very good example being the MOU between the state government and Hyland Williams Consulting LLC/BERACKIA International Ltd, Muslim Maigari & Co, to provide consultancy services for youth and sports development and the establishment of a sports academy in the state
350 out of the 1,000 commercial tricycles promised by the administration have been procured and delivered as substitute; which is aimed at empowering youth in place of the banned commercial motor-cycle business in the state.
The administration’s resolve to revitalize the educational system was the brain behind some key decisions taken to redress the indolence that was the order of the day.
For instance, on WAEC exams; of the 36 States in the country, Bauchi State consistently maintained the 31st position. Of every 100 children that enrolled in primary school in the State, only 3% reached tertiary level of education. At a mind-boggling population of 1.3 million out-of-school pupils; the highest number in the country. Unacceptably high rate of truancy among staff pupils, dilapidated school buildings and other educational infrastructure, governance deficit in school administration as some secondary schools operated without official bank accounts as well as N612m unpaid WAEC registration fees were some of the anomalies that retarded the education sector for decades.
The Bala led administration have introduced some pragmatic measures such as construction of 238 new classroom blocks, renovation of 406 classrooms and school furniture worth N5 billion, a joint work between Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, and the state universal education board SUBEB-2017-2018 intervention.
Currently, the administration has accessed additional N3 billion UBEC funding after paying its counterpart funding-2018-2019 intervention.
providing more access to the numerous out of school children, addressing WAEC racketeering, promoting teachers’ welfare, reviewing schools’ curriculum, introduction of biometric registers for teachers, enhancement of teachers’ capacities etc., were some of the measures taken by the administration.
In the area of agriculture, the Government has kept faith with its pledge to fast-track agricultural revolution in the State with the following as key components:
Ø Targeting and developing five high potential value chains: Rice, Sesame, Sorghum, Groundnuts and Ruminants. The intention here is to ensure food security, job creation and attracting private investments
Ø Improved access to inputs by re-structuring and reviving the Bauchi Fertilizer Blending Company, Bauchi State Agricultural Supply Company and engaging private sector participation in the supply of quality inputs and farming implements
Ø Ambitious expansion in the number and skills of Extension Services Workers from the less than 15 that it inherited to, at least, 2000 highly trained hands, in the next three years
Ø Enhanced crop and livestock productivity through the introduction of smart crops, improved high-yield crops, etc.
Ø Ongoing negotiation to achieve a public private sector intervention urgently required revamping the Galambi Cattle Ranch; Gubi and Madangala Dairy Farms, The Bauchi Meat Products Company and other closed factories. The value addition generated is expected to create high-paying jobs and their multiplier effects for our teaming youths
Ø Recent breakthrough with a private entrepreneur who is investing more than N5 billion in the establishment of a rice mill with the capacity to produce 600 tones of rice.
WORKERS WELFARE
On the aspect of workers’ welfare, the Bala led administration in keeping with his campaign promises and his inaugural speech, “My Bauchi Project”, one of the very first actions of Bala Mohammed, on assumption of office, was to commence payment of arrears of gratuities and pensions.
Personnel emoluments/entitlements were heartlessly abandoned by the previous administrations; that is, despite receiving a whopping N65 billion in bailout funds, from the Federal Government. To show his unflinching commitment to the process, the Governor by-passed the biometric verification of affected persons and approved the commencement of payments, before the verification exercise was concluded. The Government has set aside N200 million monthly, to service the arrears of N29 billion inherited from the Mohammed Abubakar Administration, while meeting current obligations.
COVID-19
On the recent Coronavirus pandemic that sends humanity to shiver, Bala Mohammed being the first citizen of the state to test positive for the virus has shown commitment by galvanizing the citizens of the state; so that through shared responsibility, the citizens could play a role in ending the virus.
That approach has changed the narratives; Bauchi as at May 27th has only 24 active patients of Covid-19, down from nearly 232 cases.
RURAL WATER SUPPLY SPECULATION AGENCY (RUWASSA)
Ø Construction of 8000 Hand pump Boreholes in 12 LGAs in the State;
Ø Construction of 58nos. motorized solar powered water supply in 58 PHCs in the State;
Ø Rehabilitation of 15nos. motorized solar powered water supply;
Ø Construction of 124 blocks of pour flush latrines in 64 Primary Health centres in the State
Ø Rehabilitation of 8,000nos. of Hand pump Boreholes in 8-LGAs of the State;
Ø Provision of 104 contactless hand washing station with hand sanitizer in the State.
MUSLIM PILGRIMS BOARD
Construction of new Hajj Transit camp at Durum Village @ N399,879,604.81 at Durum Village in Bauchi State.
STATE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Ø Construction of four (4) Primary Health centres (PHCs) complex in the State;
Ø Renovation, Rehabilitation/Redevelopment of five (5) Primary Health Centres (PHCs) complex in the State;
Ø Comprehensive Renovation of three (3) Primary Schools in the State;
Ø Rehabilitation of three (3) Solar powered Boreholes in the State;
Ø Procurement of 450 set of Primary School seats in the State;
Ø Complete block wall perimeter fencing of Dispensary through direct labour;
Ø Procurement and installation of 2 units of medical equipment to PHC.
STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (SEMA)
Ø Purchase of relief materials to victim of flooding at the sum of N8,892,000.00
Ø Purchase of relief materials to victims of flooding at N6,470,000.00 in Dindima, Bauchi LGA;
Ø Purchase of Relief materials to victims of Flooding @ N50,000,000.00
Ø Purchase of Relief materials to victims of windstorms in the State the sum of N25,000,000.00
Ø Financial Assistance to the victims of flood and windstorm in some part of the State.
Ø Financial Assistance to the Fourteen (14) victims of fire outbreak at Railway Market in Bauchi the sum of N13,705,945;
Ø Financial Assistance to 41 victims of fire break at the Muda Lawal market @ the sum of N20,340,133.33 in Bauchi
SPECIALIST HOSPITAL BOARD
Ø Establishment of Special Referral laboratory for COVID-19 Lassa and Yellow-Fever.
Ø Intensified power supply at the specialized hospital for 24hrs with regular supply of Diesel.
Ø Renovation water system for constant supply always;
Ø Procurements of ophthalmic operating microscope for cataract surgery;
Ø Provision of modern multi-functional ultra sound scanning machine;
Ø Provision of plastic matters covers for 400 beds at the Specialist Hospital;
Ø Construction of medical records shelves with a capacity of 500,000 folders.
BAUCHI STATE COLLEGE OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY
a. Construction of student common room, walkaways, two (2) steel overhead tanks, Lanscaping of college premises and landscaping of Female Hostel all worth N54,174,828.34 and is 100% completed
b. Renovation of students hostels, college main library, VIP Toilets and Science Laboratory worth N76,716,871.44 and is 100% completion.
BAUCHI STATE FURNITURE COMPANY
a. In line with my administration policy of uplifting the economic status of the State particularly Industries, Government also approved the supply of office furniture and interiors to Bauchi State High Court Complex Phase II, amounting to N111,562,503.75 only
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
a. In addition to numerous intervention the State Government was able to paid it’s conter fund funding for PHC MoU to the tune of Three Hundred and Thirty Nine Million naira (N339,000,000.00) only.
BAUCHI STATE DRUGS AND MEDICALCONSUMABLES MANAGEMENT AGENCY
a. The major breakthrough in this Agency is the provision of ending environment for the fulfillment of the Agency’s mandate to ensuring continuous availability of affordable and accessible essential medicines and medical consumables in a sustainable manner, to all public Healthcare facilities in the State, the government provide more than two hundred million for that purpose.
BAUCHI STATE AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY COMPANY
a. In 2019, the sum of N300,000,000.00 was advanced to BASAC as a fertilizer revolving fund. The operation was successful as farmers were supplied with adequate fertilizer throughout the season.
Presenting, in preparation for the 2020 farming season, BASAC has the following input in stock.
b. NPK – 33.35 truck at Bauchi fertilizer company with N115,050,000.00
c. UREA – 23 trucks at Bauchi, Misau, Azare and Bogoro with N105,000,000.00
d. 23,000 litres of Folio (organic) fertilizer purchase worth N99,997,800.00this is to complement the conventional fertilizer.
e. Also in stock are inputs like Herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, sprayers and seed with over N20million. f. Similarly, to further stock inputs, BASAC has proposed additional purchase worth N185,742,000.00 out of which government has approved to release of 25% of the amount.
