Bauchi Gov, Deputy takes oath of Office for second term 

SELYA  YARNAP, Bauchi 

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi  State along with his deputy, Mohammed Auwal Jatau, were sworn in for a second tenure on Monday by the Chief Judge of State, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar.

Speaking after taking oaths of allegiance and office, the Governor in his inauguration speech titled ‘My Bauchi Project: Consolidating the Mandate to Place Bauchi First’ declared, “I accept this call to serve, not because I see myself as the most qualified but because it is a divine mandate over which I have no choice.” 

“Looking into the faces of the exuberant crowd of our patriots here present, I recognize the overwhelming significance of this moment,” he said.

The Governor added, “I appreciate the trust that has been reposed in our administration by the majority of our people who voted for me. 

“I am conscious that my re-election signifies the endorsement of the manifesto of our great party and the “My Bauchi Project” agenda on which platforms I ran for election in 2019. 

“I am honoured that today’s inauguration represents a validation of the performance of our Administration during the first 

According to him, “I wish to recall with extreme joy and gratitude that, on this day four years ago, I stood at this podium to take the oath of office and oath of allegiance as your Governor and to deliver my first inaugural address to a mammoth crowd like this one.” 

“I find it indeed humbling that 48 months, (that is, 208 weeks or 1,460 days) later, here I am again to deliver my second and, by the provisions of our constitution, final inaugural address on the auspicious occasion of my swearing-in as Governor of our great state for another four years.”

According to him,”.But it goes beyond that. I see it as a summons to do more. Not as Governor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) under whose platform I ran or any partisan or sectarian interest but for everyone residing in Bauchi State: indigene and non-indigene, citizen and foreigner, rich and poor no matter one’s station in life.”

“Yet, while acknowledging the neutrality demanded of me in my position, it is only proper that I acknowledge with gratitude first, my political party that gave me the platform to run. 

“Secondly, also deserving of my gratitude are members of my team: the SSG, my Chief of Staff, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Special Assistants who brought their expertise and competencies and stood by me, all through both exciting and challenging moments, to produce the performance that culminated in my re-election.”

The governor said “I would like to say that, for me, the dissolution of the State Executive Council will not put a stop to the virile relationship that we cherish. on that note, should circumstances dictate the return of any of you, It is my sincere wish that you will avail the state of the benefit of your patriotic service.”

“Not the least, I want to thank our royal fathers, my Lords; spiritual and temporal, civil society organizations, my colleagues; members of the fourth estate and all our compatriots without whose continuing prayers and support this day would not have been possible.”

According to him, “As the sages have aptly remarked, unless you understand the take-off point of your journey, the chances are that you may never get to your destination. So, to fully appreciate the journey you and I are about to start, let me take you back a little.” 

The Governor said that “In the course of the visioning process that produced our strategic document and action plan in 2019, our environmental scan revealed both the remarkable opportunities as well as the profound headwinds that we must astutely and courageously navigate to either steer the ship of state to a stable trajectory or drift in disarray into political oblivion and irrelevance. We chose the former.”

He stressed that, “Those headwinds included: Insufficient cash flow, a huge loan portfolio; accumulated outstanding liabilities, dearth of critical infrastructure, the collapse of educational institutions, ineffective healthcare delivery services, high rate of unemployment and drug addiction and gangsterism. 

However, he added that the government “Equipped with this knowledge, our 2019-2023 Programme of Action and the Medium-Term Plan had sought to tackle wide-ranging challenges characterized by low and fragile economic growth, insecurity, weak institutions, inadequate public service delivery, gross infrastructural deficit, climate change and the attendant weak social indicators.”  

He, however, said that “Undeterred by the headwinds and other challenges, we set out with the twin objective of improving the living standards of the people and placing the state among the first ten most economically viable and socially developed states in the country.”

“Today, I can look back to the journey of the past four years with a mixture of pride (not arrogance) and sobriety (not disappointment). 

“For instance, while substantial mileage has been achieved in infrastructure, social services, economic development and poverty alleviation, the anticipated investments into the economy slowed down from 2019 onwards because of the negative impact of certain macro-economic variables which were characterized by external shocks principal among which were the COVID-19 pandemic, collapse of global crude oil prices and worldwide social conflicts of which Nigeria was not spared,” he boasted.      

The Governor further said that “As the sages say, experience is the best teacher. We have gathered so much on the road that we can claim, with all modesty, that we have enough to draw from to launch the next phase of our developmental agenda.” 

“However, conscious that no one has a monopoly of wisdom, just as we did prior to taking office in 2019, the strategy of our government for going forward is being distilled from both our experience and the report of two expert committees that I commissioned recently,” he added.

According to him, “Our primary focus remains peace and security and the welfare of our people and everybody living in Bauchi State. 

“In sectoral terms, we shall not only prioritize education and agriculture as critical areas with inestimable value chains that will impact all our plans, but I also hereby declare an emergency in these two sectors. 

“They will rank only with staff salaries and security as first-line charges critical to the survival and future progress of the state,” he stated.