Alhaji Yusuf Adamu is the Special Adviser on Political matters to Governor kashim Shettima of Borno state. In this interview with Daily Post, he speaks on the controversies trailing the merger of the opposition parties, his appraisal of Shettima’s administration and other issues. Maina Maina sent excerpt:
What is your view on the ongoing controversial merger involving the APC and other phantom APCs?
The little controversy we are experiencing today as regards the registration of APC with the INEC is not unexpected. As a matter of fact, I do not see it as a set back, but as something that is even making the emerging APC wax stronger and more popular. But, I would not shy away from expressing my disappointment with how dirty the PDP politicians could play their politics. It debases their claims of being the so-called largest political party in West Africa.
How on earth could a personality like Bamanga Tukur engage in murky games of confusion by sponsoring some elements who were confirmed to be PDP card carrying members to pose as leaders of the phantom APCs? It is so, so sad.
But the fact remains that we are the true APC, committed to giving Nigeria the best package of good governance and true democratic dividends. As I said, all these antics were anticipated, and we even expect more of such from a party like PDP that is dying by the day. APC is getting more and more converts from PDP, which is very evident in recent development like how nearly 20 PDP Governors shunned their party’s national chairman anniversary and so. This is just the beginning; Nigerians should just wait, watch and see how the light of APC will dawn on the darkness called PDP.
How are the members of the ruling ANPP in your state reacting to the move to coalesce into the APC?
I want us to understand that in Borno state, ANPP is just like a sausage of a big family. When we started on the issue of merger, the first thing we did, in our usual democratic tradition was to call an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting in which we informed everybody about the merger and what we stand to benefit even as a traditional winning party in Borno state. And because of the mutual trust and loyalty we have for our selves and the party hierarchy, the support was unbelievable. We, in Borno, led by our able Governor, His Excellency Kashim Shettima, attended our Bauchi zonal meeting in the same spirit. We then instructed all our 27 local government party chairmen to take the message down to all our wards and unit leaders so that the message will be clear to all. And that is it, everybody has given his support; the issue of merger is on course. One good thing is that our politicians, especially the local ones have no problems readjusting to a new slogan or acronym. Just as we didn’t have problems when we modified our name from All People’s Party (APP) to All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) in 2003, so we are not having difficulties with APC now, if you look at it, there is still a striking resemblance to the first two abbreviations. But seriously, our people really don’t have problems with it as long as the philosophies and ideals of our party is not altered, APC has come to stay in Borno.
As a political adviser to Governor Shettima, how would you appraise his performance in the state?
As a seasoned and experience banker by profession, trained Agric economist who had served at the highest level of governance in the state as commissioner in virtually all the key sectors like Finance, Health, Agriculture, Local Government and Chieftaincy as well as education, His Excellency, Kashim Shettima definitely has all it takes to run a smooth and purposeful administration in Borno. And so far, despite the tough challenges we face, security-wise, he has not let down our expectation. His clear and simple mission and vision, as a technocrat of repute, is to take Borno to a level of unimaginable development, consistent with what our great party, ANPP manifesto stipulates. Today, you can almost place your hands on it and feel the impact of structural development in Borno. The driving force is his Agricultural transformation programme which I personally prescribe to all Governors of the North to emulate, because it has for the first time afforded us a practical conviction that we could survive even without oil. Governor Shettima’s passion for Borno to return back to agriculture paid off almost immediately. Last year, Borno became the largest producers of onion in Nigeria. The bumper harvest of onion almost became a huge problem for us; in fact Borno state government had to intervene by accepting to buy off most of the onions from the farmers in order to encourage their commitment in the next cropping season. Presently, due to the commitments of Governor Shettima, we are by all standards the largest producers of sorghum in Nigeria, and very soon, by the time the current harvest is over, we are of course going to be the largest producers of Wheat in the country. People might not immediately appreciate Governor Shettima’s ideals and concept of running an Agro-based economy for now, but very soon they will come to terms with the fact that agriculture is the only fall back sector that will remain, by the time the oil wells dry up! All the countries of the world that have today become great, solely rely on agriculture as the bedrock of their economy. That is the trend, and that is the vision that Shettima insists for Borno state. And interestingly, he is placing the youth group as the focus, the pivot and the driving force of his agric transformation programme. Just recently, a first set up 50 youth graduate had just returned from Thailand where they underwent intensive training in various field of agriculture, ranging from crop production, fish and poultry production and management, as well as modern approach to irrigation farming. Just last week, the trained youth, comprising of 41 young men and nine ladies dazzled all of us through various PowerPoint presentations of how they could on their own, make a meaningful living via agriculture and even train others. I never felt more proud being part of this working government until I listened to those newly trained farmers.
The education sector is one of the areas Governor Shettima has immensely invested in the last two years. How has the sector fared so far?
Governor Shettima has always said, and I paraphrase here, that behind the ‘nihilism of the ongoing insecurity lies deep-rooted poverty and lack of education on the part of our youth’. It was on the basis of this conviction that he set out to revamp the entire education sector – from the primary up to the tertiary level. His first step was to declare state of emergency on education in Borno. And to make the system work in tune with his vision and achievable mission, Shettima appointed three key commissioners just for the education sector. Today we have a commissioner for Education in charge of all post-primary institutions; we have a Commissioner for Higher Education in charge of all the tertiary institutions in the state and of course the Commissioner for Primary Education in charge of the State Universal Basic Education Board. All these are working perfectly to re-position Borno state on the path of educational excellence. Today, all our primary and secondary schools are being out to shape, secondary schools are being rebuilt, renovated and upgraded to meet modern requirements. The Governor had gone a step further to establish two standing committees on Educational Quality Assurance and a committee on school feeding. While the committee on quality assurance goes round all schools to monitor and ensure that standards are not compromised, the Schools feeding committee also monitors that the N120 million being expended to give the best of meals to students are judiciously utilized The whole idea is to make schooling more attractive to our children, for once, a student eats an egg in his meal everyday, studies in an air-conditioned classroom and gets free education, he or she would rather remain in school than taking to the streets. And honestly this is working for us already. Despite that, the Governor has become a visiting teacher to all schools. Every weekend, he takes time off to visit schools with the view to finding out how the students are faring. He has been a prudent Manager of resources and this is paying off for us.
But with the trend of money-bag politics in vogue, do you think this would work out to favour Governor
Shettima come 2015?
The people of Borno have come a very long way as far as politics is concerned. The idea that some persons from a virtually non-existing political party would come and throw money around during election just to win people’s votes is no longer in vogue. People of Borno are on a new paradigm of politics that is currently being exemplified by Governor Kashim Shettima – which is the provision of tangible and people-oriented dividends of democracy. Let me give a very apt example, there is a village in my local government in which I drilled a borehole for potable water during my tenure as local government chairman. The villagers practically came to my office to show their happiness and one of the elders said in the past, politicians only come to give them crumbs during election and they never see them again until next election year. But with the provision of a potable water source to them, they would eternally remain loyal to our party, ANPP. And ever since, we always win election in that village. Some of the villagers name their new born children after my wife and I. It is no longer a money based politics here, but development. And that is why Governor Kashim Shettima’s political ideology is to touch the lives of the common man in the grassroots through the provision of basic societal needs like roads, healthcare, free education, water, transformed agriculture and above all security. And so far, so good, the results are tremendous and life impacting.
There is this allegation that Governor Shettima’s administration only concentrates developmental projects within the state capital at the expense of the rural areas. How true is this?
Well, if people talk about projects, I believe one of such is the roads construction which is also the area where the state government has invested billions of Naira. But they are not concentrated in the state capital only. My local government, Biu, for example is about 185km away from the state capital, Maiduguri, and there, we have an ongoing road project linking three remote villages which is the Gunda-Garubula-Miringa road. The people of this area had been agitating for that commercially viable road for the past 50 years. But it is only now that Governor Shettima is building that road for them. Should we say Gunda-Garubula-Mirngha is part of the state capital? Currently the state government is spending about N36 billion in undertaking the construction of several roads drainage across the state and this comprises the Askira township roads, construction of Galtimari bye-pass road and bridge, dualisation of Damboa road Maiduguri, Bama Central Market, Kano-Maiduguri road expansion to eight lanes, Gamboru-Wulgo rehabilitation, Dikwa-Marte-Monguno, Damboa-Chibok-Mbalala road, Koghum-Wiza-Kirawa-Pulka road, Gwoza-Damboa-Ngamdu road, Damasak-Malamfatori road, Lassa-Dille-Mussa-Kautikari-Kuburmbula-Chibok-Hirpaya-Bwalagyang-Forfor-Multe-Kubo road, Ngala township road and drainage, Dikwa-Gulumba-Bama road, Ngala-Kala-Balge road and Miringa-Gunda road. Others include Tashan Alade-Askira, Shaffa-Hyera, Kwaya-Bura-Tum, Benisheikh-Foi, Dikwa-Kala-Rann, Kabanu-Wade-Madla, Kwaya-Shani, Ladi Bida-Monguno, Damasak-Mallamfatori, Kirenowa-Baderi and Dikwa-Mallam Maja-Kala among others. All these are remote rural roads that have nothing to do with the state capital. As I said earlier, the new concept of development oriented politics is paying off for our government in the last one year and nine months. Mind you, all these are being put in place despite the little resources at the government’s disposal. But being a reputable banker who dwells on strategic planning, his administration of meagre resources to achieve maximal development keeps marveling us all. He is giving a clearer and better definition of the manifesto of our great party, ANPP.
How true is the rumour that Governor Shettima and former Governor of Borno state, Ali Sheriff are plotting to scuttle the merger process?
This is the most fallacious and fictitious rumour ever spread in recent times. There is no doubt that this government is an offshoot of the last administration, and obviously there is bound to be some synergy of relationship between Governor Shettima and the ANPP Board of Trustee Chairman. This trickles down to the Deputy Governor and the entire members of the ANPP in Borno state. We are in the centre of a merger, and we are part and parcel of the process of joining the APC. There is no rancour whatsoever that would have posited us as being against merger. Of course, in a bigger political movement like the emerging APC, there is bound to be little disagreements which I believe are constructive or tailored towards parties in the merger, understanding one another and ensuring the evolution of a better and formidable political party that would once and for all wrest power from the dictatorship of the PDP.
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