Folarin Kehinde

Those familiar with Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara’s penchant for exploiting other people’s misfortune for personal benefit will easily see through his latest diatribe against the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, CON.

In a publication titled, “On Governor Bala Mohammed’s Latest Tirade and Truculent Buffoonery”, the former Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives threw all decorum to the winds by hurling unprovoked expletives at the Governor whose only crime was to have stated that the policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu were inflicting untold hardship on the people of Nigeria.

As usual, the opportunistic political turncoat left the substance of the current national discourse in an ignoble and unpretentious effort to ingratiate himself with a president who, but for providence, would have been a victim of Dogara’s legendary betrayal.

All along, Dogara had been looking for an opportunity to retrace his step after abandoning Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of his party in the 2023 presidential elections, for another candidate on the pretext that he was averse to a joint Muslim ticket. Unfortunately for the political conman called Dogara, it was common knowledge that his real reason was the loss of the vice presidential slot, which he had severally bragged was already in his kitty. So, what has changed? Or is he now at home with the ticket? Maybe after finding himself adrift due to his inconsistency and treachery.

He must be taking the President for a ride. Or how else does one describe a character who plainly accuses the President of masterminding a miscarriage of justice through a subversion of the electoral process. Hear him: “… When Governor Bala Mohammed was in court after rigging himself into office and desperately needed BAT to save him, he was busy singing his praises to the highest heavens and telling the world how amazing PBAT was, not even minding the fact that he is the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum. Just months after PBAT saved him, he has turned around to describe the President as…”

Really? What is Dogara telling the public? To the best of our knowledge, the President is neither a judge nor an advocate. What we know and for which we will always commend the President is that there is indeed no evidence that he interfered with the judicial process either for his party or anyone else. For Dogara to now suggest that the President helped Governor Bala Mohammed to protect the landslide victory given to him by the Bauchi electorate is the height of political rascality, juvenile recklessness and unbridled indiscretion. His statement is a slur on the judiciary and the mindless vituperation of a self-seeking scoundrel who has little or no regard for the judiciary.

But we can understand Dogara’s predicament, indeed desperation. Now a political orphan due to his inconsistency and betrayal of the ladder through which he secured uncommon political ascendancy, he sees his only way back as heaping hubris on a man whose political ascendancy was preceded by an illustrious career in the Federal Civil service where not only, did he acquire broad inter-ministerial exposure but indeed rose to
the directorate cadre.

We had thought that as a lawyer, Dogara would be less unintelligent as he has publicly displayed. While we understand the unwritten dictum that a lawyer could resort to insulting the opposition when confronted with an untenable situation, never did we realise that Dogara would be blinded to facts that are in the public domain, particularly the utterances and actions of two presidents produced by his party, sorry one of his parties, the All Progressive Congress (APC). Dogara’s claim of non performance against Governor Bala Mohammed is laughable as it crumbles in the face of practical evidence of the Governor’s performance. The award of Best Governor of the Year 2022, in the provision of rural infrastructure presented to him by former President Muhammadu Buhari and the award of Governor of the Year 2024 in urban renewal presented to him by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ridicule the laughable claim by this jester with an over-bloated political relevance but who has been consigned to where he rightly belongs.

To further buttress the falsity of Dogara’s allegation, here is an excerpt on Bala Mohammed from the speech of former President Muhammadu Buhari at the commissioning of the Bauchi Regional Water Scheme in May 2022: “I am happy that the Bauchi state Government has executed the project creditably. I am not surprised by this accomplishment because the state government personally pursued the project with vigour and determination through the allocation of resources and intervention to eliminate bottlenecks and challenges including even the COVID-19 which affected the project extension as well as paying attention to details. This is what leaders from the country should emulate from the Governor of Bauchi State”.

The Governor of Bauchi State in May 2022 was Senator Bala Mohammed of the PDP. That was the person President Buhari of the APC had charged other leaders in the country to emulate. Does Dogara not understand simple English? To the extent of suggesting that the president had advocated emulating a failure? Or has his unprovoked and maniacal obsession with Bala Mohammed’s rising political profile pushed him to the point of infantile dementia?

Since Dogara is not aware of the achievements of Bala Mohammed, a track record that earned him the two awards and for which a former president had recommended him to other leaders as a role model, we would want to take him on a brisk tour of the constituency he has since abandoned, chasing the restoration that has so far eluded him, may be until his new job as President Tinubu’s Man Friday. Who knows, he could be angling to take over the job of either Information and National Orientation Minister Muhammed Idris or Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga! Country hard jare!

Whether it is in social services or infrastructure or people empowerment, the Bala Mohammed Administration has acquitted itself creditably, delivering milestone after milestone democracy dividends, to the admiration of the Bauchi electorate. Granted that the out-of-school children crisis is more pronounced in the north, under Bala Mohammed, the problem has been reduced from the 1.3 million at the inception of his administration to about 700, 000 presently.
Before Dogara pulls a wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting public, the Bala Mohammed Administration has recorded other milestones in the education sector. These include the construction and renovation of many primary schools leading to the provision of over 5000 new classrooms, and general improvement in the learning environment. The net impact has been improved performance in external examinations. In the health sector, the performance of the administration has been no less impressive. With a functional primary healthcare centre in each of the 323 wards of the state, upgraded general hospitals and provision of long sought after facilities such as the recently commissioned diagnostic and dialysis equipment in the Specialist Hospital Bauchi, affordable and critical healthcare are being brought closer to the people. Because Dogara has long been far removed from Bauchi, and in his jaundiced predilection this renegade son of the state cannot appreciate the unprecedented infrastructural development that has taken place. What a pity.

If Dogara is running away from the several abandoned 419 constituency projects, he should be told that Governor Bala Mohammed is ready to remedy the situation. Or could it be that he is haunted by his reputation for budget padding or the possession of the biggest warehouse of motorcycles in Jos Plateau State (not in Bauchi) that was looted by unknown persons during the EndSARs protest or his malicious opposition to his benevolent uncle, Professor Sulaiman Bogoro, which led to his removal in TETFUND or his usual blood thirsty record in all the deadly violence in Bogoro?

To imagine that this political fraud has the impudence to rear his ugly head again is not only irritating but a grotesque insult on the people of his constituency who have since regained confidence in civil authority, thanks to the even handedness of the Bala Mohammed Administration. Among the several initiatives of the Bala Mohammed Administration in Dogara’s Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro/Dass Constituency are:

Roads

1- Design and construction of the 2.6 km Bununu Township Road awarded in 2020 (completed)

2- Design and construction of the 11.5 km Bogoro-Lusa-Malar Road awarded in 2020 (completed)

3- Design and construction of the Boi-Tapshin Road awarded in 2020 (completed)

4- Design and construction of the 2 span Bridge/2km Zakkam Bridge and Road to Zakkam Community awarded in 2022 (completed)

5- Design and construction of the 29km Boi-Sara-Marti-Lere Road/Spur Road to Dutsen Lawal awarded in 2024 (ongoing)

6- Design and construction of the 1.6km Spur road to Dunga Community awarded in 2022 (completed)

7- The 12.5 km abandoned Dass-Wandi-Bassam-Lamdi-Durr Road rewarded in 2024 (ongoing)

8- The 3.2 km Dass Township Road awarded in 2024 (ongoing)

9- Design and construction of the 6Km Dott-Bajar Road awarded in 2024 (ongoing)

Health:

Achievement of HE Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed in Primary Healthcare and General Hospitals in Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa LGAs.

Tafawa Balewa LGA

1- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Lere PHCC,

2- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Tapshin PHCC,

3- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Zwall PHCC,

4- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Tafawa Balewa PHCC,

5- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Katsinawa PHCC,

6-Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Bununu PHCC,

7-Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Dajin PHCC,

8-Procurement and distribution of medical equipment across 16 PHCs of Tafawa Balewa LGA

9- Procurement and distribution of drugs and medical consumables with establishment of drug revolving fund across 16 PHCs of Tafawa Balewa LGA

Dass LGA

1- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Bagel PHCC

2- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Gultukurwa PHC

3- Procurement and distribution of drugs and medical consumables with establishment of drug revolving fund across 13 PHCs of Dass LGA

4- Procurement and distribution of medical equipment across 13 PHCs of Dass LGA

5- Procurement and distribution of ultrasound scanning machine across the 13 PHCCs of Dass LGA

6- Renovation of Hospital Complex and Staff quarters at General Hospital Dass

Bogoro LGA

1- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Lusa PHCC,

2- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Gobbiya PHCC,

3- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Kurum PHCC,

4- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Boi PHCC,

5- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Gamba PHCC,

6- Renovation, upgrading and equipping of Bugum PHCC,

7- Procurement and distribution of drugs and medical consumables with establishment of drug revolving fund across 13 PHCs of Bogoro LGA

8- Procurement and distribution of medical equipment across 13 PHCs of Bogoro LGA

In the area of people empowerment, many youths and women have received training as well as empowerment equipment from the Kaura Economic Empowerment Programme (KEEP). In education the people of Dogara’s constituency have benefitted through the construction and renovation of many primary schools and the provision of classroom desks and chairs. This is in addition to the provision of books and other educational materials in the three local governments of his constituency. Similarly, reminiscent of the situation in other parts of the state, the state government has prioritized the provision of adequate security operations in the constituency, in collaboration with the security agencies.

Given that we do not share Dogara’s poverty of the mind, we shall resist the temptation to be drawn into our party member, His Excellency Nyesom Wike’s performance except to remind Dogara that the starting point of any such comparison is to look at the track record of the immediate APC administration vis-a-vis what this PDP loanee to the APC-controlled Federal Government is doing.

Finally, because Dogara is so consumed with himself that he lacks the presence of mind to appreciate historical currents, he probably forgot that the Buhari APC-led Federal Government had, after unwarranted vilification and persecution, publicly acknowledged that the Land Swap Programme of the Bala Mohammed FCT-Administration was a laudable initiative. We leave Dogara with this parting Bala Mohammed’s successor in the office of minister of FCT, Mallam Muhammadu Bello. His words: “The Land Swap Programme is expected to save the FCT Administration nearly N1 trillion which the Administration would have required to procure comprehensive district infrastructure in the 13 districts earmarked under the programme.

“Developing the city using the annual budgetary allocation is simply not possible because of the way the city has grown astronomically in terms of physical expansion and a rising population.

“Its primary objective in its simplest form includes the encouragement of home ownership and the reduction of housing deficit in the FCT”.

When it comes to vision and foresight, some people have it. But certainly not self-conceited impostors like Yakubu Dogara. That is why the former Speaker, will never understand the rationale for the flyovers in Bauchi or the remodelled Government House Complex that includes the ultra modern international conference centre, ICC , with its huge potential for transforming Bauchi State from a small traditional city to a robust melting pot of civilisations, businesses, intellectual intercourse and financial deals.

It is the prevalence of opportunistic characters like Dogara, masquerading, as opinion leaders and advisers, in the corridors of power, that the country has sunk into the morass that led to the present quagmire and not a statesman, patriot and quintessential administrator like Bala Mohammed whose transformational administration is placing Bauchi State on the path of sustainable development.

Signed
Mukhtar Gidado
Special Adviser Media & Publicity
to the Governor
11th August, 2024.