We are focusing on healthcare and education in Yobe – Bego

Alhaji Abdullahi Bego is the Adviser on Media and Communications to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state, the second most affected state by the Boko Haram insurgency. In this interview with DAILY POST, Bego gave a general remark on where the government has gotten to so far, and what has been expended in the execution of the war on terrorism.

Our Correspondent, Maina Maina sent excerpts:

Sir, this government under Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam is stepping into its second term. How has it been so far? Why the reduction in the number of ministries in this second term?

Well, as many of you have reported, HE Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has restructured government ministries here in Yobe State, cutting down their number from 22 to 15. He did so because he believes that at this time of real economic challenges, and under the prevailing climate of governance reform all across the country, keeping our government lean, cutting down on overheads and recurrent expenditure and freeing up more resources to help improve on our people’s socio-economic conditions are the best possible options for us to be effective and to make very real impact in the lives of ordinary people here in the State. As a result of this initiative, a committee set up by the governor to fuse and redeploy directors and other senior personnel into the newly restructured 15 ministries is almost completing its assignment. Going forward, we expect this measure to reduce overall cost of governance in the State and ensure that public sector service delivery is more synchronized and effective. And this measure will also build on the steps that the Yobe State Government took last year to improve on governance reform by aligning budget preparation in line with International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) and the publication of audited accounts – measures that have excited our development partners such as the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Back then in May 2015 when HE Governor Gaidam was sworn-in for his second term in office, our State, like many others across the country, was in dire economic straits as a result of a significant fall in the revenues that were accruing to it from the Federation Account. Things were so difficult that many States were unable to meet the basic obligation of paying their workers’ salaries.

Here in Yobe State, thanks to His Excellency, Governor Gaidam’s style of fiscal management, we were able to keep afloat, not for once defaulted on salary payments. We didn’t have bank loans to repay – His Excellency does not believe in unnecessary borrowing – so we were able to use the little we were getting to meet our basic obligations.

Talking about the problem of insecurity in the northeast and Yobe in particular. What has the government achieved during this period and what do we have now to say; Uhuru?

Sadly, this is something that many people do not seem to appreciate. At a time that we were going through the worst security crisis of our lifetime, a crisis that continues to exert a heavy toll on our finances, the Yobe State Government under His Excellency, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam has continued to keep faith with all its major responsibilities – paying workers their salaries regularly at the end of each month, helping to provide support to the security forces who are working to bring the prevailing Boko Haram insurgency to an end and pushing on with the delivery of basic services. To date, the Yobe State Government has spent over N12 billion in security-related spending.

And I want to go into some details about the delivery of social services. There are some people – a few people who apparently opposed to the governor politically – who tend to spread the lie that nothing is happening in Yobe State; that the Yobe State Government is absolutely doing nothing in terms of public service delivery. Such a view holds no grounds, of course.

Under His Excellency, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, the Yobe State Government has used and continues to use available and limited resources to impact the lives of the people in significant ways. In education, for instance, the YBSG has rebuilt over 300 school classrooms damaged or destroyed by mindless Boko Haram insurgents at the height of their senseless insurgency campaign. Many of those schools have also been provided with new furniture and books. Over 3000 teachers, many of them NCE holders, were recruited and deployed to our schools.

Our government-owned tertiary institutions also continue to receive support to help them produce graduates worthy of the name. College of Education Gashu’a, for example, now produces over 1300 NCE graduates and 100 degree holders respectively every year. Our State University, right here in Damaturu, is rated as the fastest growing University in the North. Thanks to the unprecedented support that the governor continues to give the University, over 98 percent of its academic offerings have now been fully accredited by the NUC.

The YBSG has also recruited over 15, 000 youth under its youth empowerment programmes. Of this number, over 6, 572 were diploma holders who were placed on a N15, 000 monthly allowances until they could get a permanent job or gain additional training. There were many NCE, HND and degree certificate holders who were recruited on a permanent basis and posted to schools and government agencies. There were yet others who were trained on skills acquisition and supported to start their own businesses.

The YBSG under Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has built more roads than the total number of roads built since the State was created back in 1999. Potikum-Garin Alkali; Kaliyari-Bayamari-Gaidam; Bayamari-Yunusari; Gaidam-Bukarti; Maiduwa-Gadaka; Potiskum-Danchuwa; Jajimaji-Karasuwa. All these are roads built by HE, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam. We also have many road projects that are currently ongoing, despite the prevailing economic challenges. Damaturu-Buni-Yadi Madgza road which is 70 kilometres long; Gadaka-Siminti-Godowoli; and the the famous 300-KM long Trans-Saharan road project which extends from Kanamma in Yunusari LG to Machina Town in the northernmost part of the State.

There was also a slew of roads and drainage built by Governor Gaidam in Damaturu, Potiskum, Gashu’a, Nguru and Gaidam – our major towns and, as the Governor has promised, more towns, such as Dapchi HQ of Bursari LG, will come on stream going forward.

All these were done by HE Governor Gaidam in his first term in office. All these projects are verifiable as they are on ground.

Can you tell us what the government is doing regarding healthcare in the state more especially now that some of the structures are taking longer time to come alive?

The newly built 200-bed hospital here in Damaturu is now being installed with State-of-the-art equipment. I know some people talk about the slow nature of the hospital project; that it has taken long, etc.

Yes, the project has taken long. But the expansion of the project, construction of new staff housing, etc. which were not in the original first phase of the project meant that the delay is worth the while. Anyone of you here could go take a look at what is happening in the hospital right now. Yobe will be better for the investments there.

The Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, also here in the State capital, has been revived. About 13 new medical wards and department buildings as well as 24 blocks of staff housing were built by Governor Gaidam.

Over the last two years, when HE Governor Gaidam declared an emergency in the health sector, around 300 nursing personnel were recruited and deployed to work in our hospitals and health centres. There were new doctors on board too. And, to date, Yobe under Governor Gaidam remains one of the foremost states to implement the new CONMESS and CONHESS salary scales for doctors and nurses. That’s a feat!

And as a result of the government’s free-drug programme for pregnant women and children between the ages of 0 and 5, maternal and child mortality rate is steadily coming down in the State. Sometime ago, Yobe was one of two or three states with a few remaining cases of polio. That’s now history as a result of the efforts being made at all levels of healthcare. It’s now a full one-year without a single polio case across the entire country.

Let’s also look at the housing sector. How would you rate the governor in this area given the distraction by constant attacks in the past?

By all available data, Yobe under Governor Gaidam, is the only State to date having a policy where houses built by the government are allocated to workers at 65 percent discount. 65 percent yanked off the cost of a two-bedroom or three-bedroom house is significant. There are workers who swear that without the measure, they would possibly not be able to own houses of their own for life.

And that’s not all. The governor has directed – and this is already being implemented – that if a worker passes on while still paying, his family will not have to complete payment and the house will remain part of the deceased’s estate. These are real things happening right here in our State, under HE the governor. These are facts on the ground. They are no smoke and mirrors. Speaking on the matters of the Internally Displaced people. What support either directly or indirectly has the government given?

The Yobe State Government has done a lot to support people directly affected by Boko Haram attacks. According to records from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), we have a total of 135, 511 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) scattered in 13 local government areas living in host communities. The State Government has an established IDPs camp with 3, 011 persons. Of this number, 482 are men, 670 women and we have 1, 859 children. According to SEMA, there are two other camps set up by the IDPs themselves in Kasaisa and Kukareta with a population of over 2, 750 IDPs.

Over the past two years, SEMA’s been supporting these IDPs, also with additional support from NEMA and other development partners. The most recent support provided people affected by Boko Haram insurgency was the sum of N61.8 million given by the State Government to some traders whose businesses were destroyed by the insurgents. Many of you here have done some reporting on that.

SEMA has also provided emergency support to victims of flooding in Ngelzarma, Shanga and Jajere and the agency’s now collecting and compiling a comprehensive report on the extent of damage for possible government assistance to victims.

Over the weekend, we also have report of flooding in some communities in Fika local government area. The local government council is trying to assist as of yesterday but SEMA will also move in with emergency assistance.

In summary, what do we hope to see in the next four years happening to the people of Yobe state under the leadership of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam?

You can expect the Gaidam administration to continue on this track – to deploy all available resources to improve on the living conditions of the people of the State.

Governor Gaidam has said, the focus of the administration in the second term will be on healthcare and education. We have built so many kilometres of roads. We have made progress in the area of water supply with the support of our development partners such as the African Development Bank and the Japanese Government.

So, while we do not hands off road construction or the drilling of more boreholes, for instance, the focus will be more on education and healthcare. General hospitals across the State will come on stream for major rehabilitation works, beginning with the General Hospital in Potiskum and it will be extended to the hospitals in Gashu’a, Nguru and Gaidam.

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