After just one year, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is walking the talk.
He has touched Adamawa in diverse ways, despite myriad of challenges; economic, security, political, social, and many more.
The fact sheet has shown some unassailable truths that can never be swept away.
As Sir Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister said; “Truth is incontrovertible. Ignorance may deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is.”
The Governor and his team are steadily and painstakingly retooling Adamawa.
Out of sheer and deliberate ignorance, some people deride it, saying we see nothing, we hear nothing.
Yes.
When you have become deliberately blind, you can see nothing, even when it is thrust before your very eyes.
You won’t see it.
When you have become willfully deaf, when it is noised to your hearing daily, you won’t hear.
Some other people do theirs out of panic.
Shall it be said that what Napoleon couldn’t do, has been done by that simple, unassuming man from Madagali?
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Madagali of all places. That small place. Not a man from a major city.
And he wants to be recorded in history as the man who turned Adamawa right side up.
They resent it out of panic.
Yet some others operate out of malice.
He is not of my ethnic stock.
Nor of my religion, language, political party.
Why must Adamawa work under him? It won’t happen.
We won’t see anything, nor hear anything.
In fact, he is doing nothing.
The State is even worse off than he met it one year ago.
There is a quote often attributed to John Adams, a former American President, though some people claim it was not original to him.
It goes thus: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
One year ago, thousands celebrated the victory of Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri who defeated the incumbent Governor in a fierce encounter at the 2019 General Election.
Governor Fintiri in less than a year in office has been inspiring and has impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state.
He has proven, by all accounts, to be a good manager, and has made significant progress in all aspects of life.
The people of Adamawa State will bear me witness to the fact that the state is now on the path of development.
All these things made him stand out among his peers even as he was crowned the “LEADERSHIP GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR 2019”.
The early part of his administration has been punctuated by development that provide assurances for good governance and prospect for a state like Adamawa which has remained under the shackles of poverty, deprivation, repression and underdevelopment.
His popular policies and a handful of achievements during the early part of his administration rekindled the hope of the Adamawa population for a better deal.
In his wisdom, he has established a pattern, spanning 5 major critical areas of governance which have so far yielded positive results and these areas include Security, Education, Infrastructural Development and Workers Welfare.
A cursory look at what he has managed to accomplish would be in order.
SECURITY
Since his assumption to office in 2019, he swept through the entire murderous dynasty of hoodlums, bandits and extremists’ groups – Alas! Adamawa is salvaged under his untired fists of confident leadership
Gone are the days when kidnappers, gunmen and the deadly Shilla boys carry out their activities unabated.
His tough stand on insecurity is responsible for the arrest of over 200 Shilla boys, over 50 kidnappers.
He also brought to the barest minimum, farmers and herders clashes, all in his first 3 months in office.
It is safe to say that the present administration has achieved 95% success in the fight against insecurity.
In the same vein, his administration acquired 80 Toyota hilux and more than 100 motorcycles, which were distributed to security outfits in the state.
The administration facilitated the return of 133 Nigerian refugees of Adamawa origin, who fled from insecurity to Cameroon.
He led security chiefs to an ongoing communal clash at Tingno and Tito communities in Lamurde LGA, and repelled the attack in the process.
Governor Fintiri has lived up to his expectation as chief security officer of the state by keeping the men of the underworld away from the streets.
EDUCATION
Although, he met the education sector at a decline, he has revived it by introducing free & compulsory education, free WAEC and NECO, school feeding programs for secondary schools, as well as rehabilitation and rebuilding of school structures.
He also granted 60 students scholarship to study engineering in India.
In order for students to learn in a conducive environment, he approved the rehabilitation of 5,000 classrooms in school across the state.
The Governor was also instrumental in the conversion of Moddibbo Adama University of Technology Yola (MAUTECH) to a conventional university that will make it possible for the institution to accommodate more courses and admit more students.
His administration has also approved the payment of matching grant to UBE for accessing over N8bn stimulus package.
The Governor also distributed educational materials to public schools in the state.
INFRASTRUCTURE/ URBAN BEAUTIFICATION
The last time citizens of the state benefited from housing allocation is close to 10 years during the reign of Murtala Nyako and Boni Haruna.
In order to close the housing deficit in the state, Fintiri decided to build 2000 houses for the citizens of the state.
Toungo Local Government Area which has been cut off from the national grid for more that 20 years has now been reconnected all thanks to the current administration.
The reconnection of Madagali and Michika Local Government Areas to national grid after being disconnected for more than 5 years by the dreaded Boko Haram is currently ongoing.
The state capital and environs are witnessing reconstruction of roads, with the Bachure road construction at the forefront.
WORKERS WELFARE AND ENTITLEMENT
Known as the ATM Governor, workers welfare, salaries and entitlement is among the top of his priorities.
He approved the implementation of the national minimum wage, and even went further to pay more than the FG’s agreed wage.
Not only is salary being paid before 25th of the month, it is paid even without collecting overdraft.
He paid the 2019 leave grants.
Pension and gratuity of retired civil servants are being paid as when due.
HUMANITARIANISM
Humanitarianism goes hand in hand with politics.
Governor Fintiri has proven times without numbers that he values humanity more than anything.
His first task of humanitarianism came in handy when Boko haram insurgents kidnapped and killed the CAN Chairman of Michika LGA, he made it a point of duty to award scholarship to the children of the clergyman.
He donated N3m for the education of the children of soldiers killed by Boko Haram in Garkida, Gombi LGA.
His benevolence was extended to fire victims at the markets in Ganye, Michika and Loko in Song LGAs as he donated N3m each to the 3 local government areas to ameliorate the hardship caused by the inferno.
He donated his salaries for three months in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
The Governor went further to direct the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA) to distribute foodstuff as palliatives to the 21 Local Government Areas of the State.
Items distributed include 3,948 bags of 50KG rice, 4,545 25L of vegetable oil, 135 bags of 50KG sugar, 21 cartons of Couscous, 21 bags of 50KG Beans and 1, 530 cartons of Tomatoes Paste.
Others are 1, 060 cartons of Spaghetti/Macroni, 480 Second Hand Cloths Bale as well as 57 Second Hand Cloths Raps among others.
Health workers are also paid hazard allowance among others.
Yet some people don’t see what the government is doing (PLEASE WHO OFF LIGHT).
But those who see, and hear, are full of appreciation.
True, facts are stubborn things.
Puja wrote from Yola
