by George Kushi
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It is therefore not out of place to assess the government of RT. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri after over three years of purposeful stewardship in Adamawa State.
Therefore, as the government under Fintiri reaches towards the end of the first tenure, there is a need to appraise the performance of the government.In the last over three years a lot has been done, the government has impacted positively on the citizens of Adamawa State.
To enumerate all that the Government has done within this span of time is almost impossible because what has been done has far reaching effect on the behavior and conduct of citizens that have been led previously by hearsay and promises that are not matched with action.The almost four years of Fintiri Government has so far performed beyond expectations. The pace at which his campaign promises have been handled gives room that by the end of the first four years, Adamawa State would have been transformed to an enviable status.
To begin with, in his first few days in office, Governor Fintiri addressed the issue of the notorious “Shila Boys” by making sure that they are flushed out from their dens including the most dreaded “Mini Sambisa forest” at the bank of the Benue River.
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In a clean swipe, hundreds of the hoodlums and drug addicts across Yola the State Capital were arrested by Security and protective agencies thereby drastically reducing the threat they pose to Civil Society. It should be noted that this singular action restored confidence among dwellers in the State Capital.In an effort to secure society in the long run, Governor Fintiri declared free and compulsory Basic Education for all residents of Adamawa State in public Schools.
These also includes free books and other materials for learning. Another incentive is that the government lessened the burden on parents by declaring free WAEC and NECO examination in all public schools in the State. A list of the next set of candidates has been always compiled to enable government know the financial implication before the next round of exams.
It is worthy of note that many students that went through the rigous of studying have sometimes ended up unable to pay these fees. To crown it all for the first time in many years feeding has been reintroduced in public schools thereby reducing the burden on parents and enabling those from very poor families to have one balanced meal a day while in school.
The feeding factor itself is an incentive for many school age children In the last three years, the Fintiri administration has shown commitment to women and youth of Adamawa State by reviving technical skills acquisition centers that train young men and women with skills that would make them self-sufficient.The administration has tackled a worrisome aspect of life by declaring free healthcare for the elderly, pregnant women and children under 5 years. This says a lot about the government that shows concern to these vulnerable category of people. In a bid to access the level of decay in the health sector in the state, Ahmadu Fintiri undertook a tour to personally assess the situation on ground.
According to the Governor the health sector is one of his top priorities from where he is set out to improve the health sector. This considerably was achieved within a short while. When Governor Fintiri assumed office he inherited a bagful of unpleasant things worst of all is the farmers/herders conflict that created mini theatres of war.
On a weekly basis farmers and herders spread across the state were at loggerheads with hundreds killed or maimed. This security challenge was tackled through the intervention of security personel, dialogue with local communities and traditional rulers. These methods has drastically reduced the clashes from what obtained in the past.
A twin problem in the farmer/herders clashes that the government inherited is the issue of kidnapping which became rampant in the last four years before the Fintiri-led administration came into office. Kidnapping became so rampant that dignity of man and value for his life was at the lowest. It was so bad that a ransom fee of less than ten thousand naira was demanded for. Indigent people and figures running into millions for people in the higher social strata. But today, kidnapping have not found it easy as the government has put to use security agents that are constantly on the heels of kidnappers, potential kidnappers and their cohorts.
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The effect is that farmers/herders clashes and its evil twin kidnapping have drastically been reduced.Another important aspect of the action packed government of Fintiri is the local government autonomy issue. While some pessimists believe that no governor would remove his hands from the juicy bundle meant for local government, Governor Fintiri blazed the trail by becoming the first governor to grant full financial autonomy to local government in the state.
To top it up, he made it mandatory for the state published Newspaper to publish monthly allocation for all local governments including salary bill of the local governments so that the local populace will know the amount accruable to their local government and how much is left after salaries and to access what is left.
After the salary bills is appropriately used. This has kept local government chairmen on their toes and has made accountability in the local government areas transparent. At the same time it has put to an end the issue of trading blame as to who gets what contrary to what obtained in the past where Chairmen blame the State Government and the State Government justify its actions by claiming it is acting in the best interest of everyone.
Since the Fintiril government came into office it has kept its promise to Civil Servants in the State. On assuming office two months salaries that were unpaid by the previous government were paid to Civil Servants. Futhermore, leave grants that have been unpaid for some years have been settled. Governor Fintiri has maintained that paying workers emoluments is a right and never a privilege.Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri took into cognizance the plight of the people of Adamawa State who are suffering untold hardship due to the issue of accommodation and the sky rocketing level of house rents.
To this effect, the Governor signed a memoranda of understanding to undertake the construction of 2000 houses to ease the accommodation problem in the state. As at now, the first phase of 1000 housing units are near completion. Governor Fintiri’s impeccable ideas are meant to ease the life style of the common man. All these and many more is what is happening in the Fintiri years of action in Adamawa State. Many will still follow… Make no mistake!!!