Barely 24 hour to the expiration of his tenure, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state has dissolved the state’s cabinets and delivered a touching valedictory speech.
The governor, who dissolved the cabinet after a valedictory executive council meeting, thanked all the members for their contribution to the success of his administration.
The outgoing governor said that God in his wisdom has given him the opportunity to make Yobe a better place for everyone to live.
Below is the full text of his speech:
“I have a great pleasure to warmly welcome you to the valedictory session of the State Executive Council. As you are no doubt aware, the tenure of the present administration will end on Wednesday, 29th May 2019. This last Executive Council session, therefore, is an historic occasion for all of us.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate and congratulate each member who has had the privilege to serve on the Council at various times from 2009 to date on our achievements.
“The big successes which our tenure recorded were as a result of hard work, commitment, sacrifice and patience. For a better appreciation of the services we rendered to make our people’s life better, permit me at this point to reflect on the journey so far.
“A little over ten years ago when this administration came on board, the State was characterized by poor infrastructural facilities. These include inadequate township and intra state roads, dilapidated educational and health structures, inadequate water supply, low agricultural productivity as well as institutional decay in governance.
“In order to turn around the situation, we embarked on far reaching policies, programmes and reforms. Our guiding principles were good governance, accountability, transparency and value for money spent on the provision of services.
“In a matter of hours, our tenure will be over, but we can look back with satisfaction and smile because a lot of things had happened.
“The State University we established has been described as the fastest growing institution in Northern Nigeria. The State of Emergency we declared on health has transformed the sector and attracted commendations and awards. Yobe is gradually being transformed into a medical tourism haven.
“Recently, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released a report which indicated that due to our realistic budget, Yobe is one of the eight solvent States and in fact the only State that can fund 2019 budget from combined Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations for 2017 and 2018.
“Furthermore, the National Bureau for Statistics report for 2017 indicated that Yobe has achieved over 75% coverage of the State in provision and improvement of potable water supply.
“Ours is one of the few administrations in the country which succeeded in cutting its coat according to its size. We were workers friendly because we paid salaries, pensions and gratuities as and when due. We are leaving a clean slate in this respect.
“It is also a matter of pride that all our policies, projects and programmes, most of which have been completed were executed without recourse to domestic or external loans.”
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