Leadership Governor of the year: An Icing on the cake for Adamawa Governor Fintiri’s achievements

Adamawa State Governor Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri was among the quartet of Governors, Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa, Ben Ayade of Cross River and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara to emerge joint leadership Governor of the Year 2019.
The LEADERSHIP conference and awards which is an annual event organised by LEADERSHIP Group Limited is aimed at celebrating those considered by the organisation as having distinguished themselves in the public and private sectors in the previous year.
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.
I’m using this avenue to congratulate His Excellency on receiving the award and also to point out the things which made him stand out among his peers.

I did the liberty of just mentioning the things he has done, because if I should list and explain all his achievements, believe me; this space won’t be enough.
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 under development.
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.
For an administration that has to contend with a huge debt profile of about 140 Billion on assumption of office, the debt status of the state may be contrary.
As a leader who understands the art of governance and the frustrations of his people, his determination to translate into concrete reality his 11 points agenda apparently because the source of the strength to take his teeming supporters out of our present political and economic quagmire.
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.
First let’s start with the EDUCATION SECTOR
Before coming on board, the educational system was in a state of comatose, he revitalized the system which now works for even the poor and vulnerable in the society.
· Approved scholarship to 60 selected students willing to study engineering at Mewar University India.

· Reintroduced school feeding programme

· Paid WAEC and NECO fees

· Paid scholarship funds to over 250,000 Adamawa students in campuses and universities across the country.

· Restocked public secondary school clinics with drugs and first aid kits.

· Facilitated the distribution of 40,440 textbooks, 3,800 students desk, 200 teachers chairs and 26,000 science literally charts for public secondary schools.

· Took off over 30,000 Almajiri’s off the street and enrolled them into school.

· Approved the rehabilitation of 5000 classrooms, some are still ongoing at the moment.

· He was instrumental in the conversion process of Modibbo Adama University of Technology to a conventional university.

· Approved the appointment of a substantial Vice Chancellor for Adamawa State University Mubi (the institution spent more than 5 years without a substantial VC).

· Approved the convocation ceremony for ADSU (5th – 12th Convocation) first time in more than 5 years.

· Distributed learning materials to thousands of pupils (ADSUBEB in collaboration with UNICEF, one child per learning materials).

· Payed matching grant to UBE for accessing over 8 Billion Naira UBE stimulus.

· Donated half a million to Adamawa contingents at the National Junior Engineers Technicians and Scientist competition (JETS) Lagos State.

· Sponsored the education of the children of the murdered Michika CAN Chairman Rev. Lawan Andimi.

In Security
Prior to the advent of this administration, the state has been battling with unresolved security issues of arm robbery, kidnapping and the dreaded Shilla boys. His political will to stem the tide of insecurity has brought criminal activities to its lowest ebb.
· Clamp down on Shilla boys, over 500 arrested while dozens laid down their arms.

· Fight against kidnappers, over 100 high profiled kidnappers nabbed, arms recovered and dozens of captives released.

· Herders and Farmers clashes defeated.

· Cattle rustling also defeated.

· Purchased 50 Hilux vans and 60 Motorcycles for security personnel’s.

· Implemented a salary structure for vigilantes.

· Purchased additional 10 Toyota Land Cruisers (70 series) for the men of the Nigerian Army.

· Gave out a huge plot of land to the Men of the Nigerian Airforce in Gombi to be used as a mini barracks and an airstrip.

Infrastructure/Urban Beautification
· Signed an MOU with family homes to construct 2000 houses in the state.

· Reconnected Toungo back to the national grid, after more than 20 years of blackout.

· Launched the Euro 10M solar Nigeria project, electrification of health centers.

· Installation and repairs of broken street lights.

· Approved the installation of traffic lights in 8 traffic density junctions in the state capital.

· Approved and kicked off the construction of 18.08km road project in the state capital. Bachure road, Philip Maken street, Mambilla street, Jambutu street around Nassarawo borehole, Benue street and links.

· Approved and kick started the rehabilitation and construction of 281kms of rural roads in the state under RAMPII

· Remobilized contractors back to site to complete abandoned projects like Pella – Maiha road, Kabang road in Mubi, inside ADSU Mubi, in Jimeta and also in Ganye to mention but a few.

Workers welfare
· Constant payment of salaries before 25th of the month, without collecting overdraft.

· Paid 2019 leave grants.

· Payment of accumulated pension and gratuity of retired civil servants from 2012 – date.

· Approved the upward of monthly allocation for payments of pension and gratuity from 50m to 100m to pay off accumulated pension and gratuity.

· Approved and signed 32,000 minimum wage, more than FG’s agreed 30,000 minimum wage.

We might not see the quick effect of his developmental drive because of the rotten system he inherited, but with time, everything will be put in place at the proper time.
For a government with such development intentions to realize its objectives, it will require the commitment of all organs of government to create an enabling environment for the translation of government policies and programmes into concrete reality.