GAZZUZZ: 6 months ago, the Niger state governor, promised to buy 200 CNG buses, His excellency the Gov of Niger State mohammed Bago said that 100 of the vehicles when delivered would be put on the Suleja-Abuja routes, 50 to be used in Minna, the state capital while the remaining 50 would be distributed to other local government areas. The buses have now been delivered in record time.
He obviously has great dreams for the state but he's poor with setting priorities or not being properly advised. I'll elucidate using the health, education, and works (infrastructure) sectors.
Immediately he assumed office, he started construction of a teaching hospital and converted the College of Education to a University. This is a state with non functional primary health facilities & Elementary/Basic education structures. No matter how sophisticated the tertiary health and education are, they will be almost useless in the presence of faulty primary and secondary levels.
For health, the primary level(about 80% of health needs) is to promote health, prevent illnesses, and for prompt treatment of mild illnesses. This is what developed countries now focus on- prevent illnesses rather than wait to manage them when they happen. It's more effective and alot cheaper. Environmental sanitation, health education, nutrition, immunization etc are in primary health. Imagine unavailability of routine childhood vaccines & common antimalarials in primary health centres, women recklessly delivering at home, indiscriminate waste disposal, etc. All of these in the state capital, imagine what's happening in remote areas. Teaching Hospitals, being at the tertiary level of care(just about 20% of health needs), are meant to attend to complicated cases most of which a functional primary care would have prevented. This governor neglected 80% for 20%. He prefers depriving children BCG, Hep B, Polio, and other vaccines to rather build a teaching hospital to later manage them for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Polio respectively. The cost of 1 teaching hospital will fund functional primary health centres in every nook and crannies of Niger. Meanwhile, there are 2 tertiary health facilities within 3hours drive from the state capital (University of Abuja Teaching Hospital & FMC, Bida). The Teaching Hospital project in Minna is a misplaced priority, especially in the face of a poor primary health.
A similar thing is happening with education. It was in Minna I first heard primary school pupils run shifts. As in, due to lack of enough schools/structures, some pupils will go to school in the morning, return by noon or so, then some will go by noon and return few hours later. It's that bad. You can drive for hours within habited areas in Niger without sighting a govt primary or secondary school. You'll wonder who this governor is building the university for. Same children who have been denied functional basic education? Or he wants them to start from the university? There are about 4 Federal universities within 4hours from Minna. If you provide sound basic education to people, they will access tertiary no matter how far it is from them. The sound basic education would have created the needed zeal.
Sad thing is that, the Teaching Hospital and University projects are capital intensive and lack of interests by subsequent govts will make them end up being waste of scarce resources but primary health centres or schools require less resources to fund and even NGOs or philanthropists can take over the funding later.
On works, this governor asked citizens to remove interlock on road pavements across Minna with the excuse of wanting to plant grass. Months down the line, the road pavements remain unkempt. Many road constructions were started simultaneously, many of which were previously motorable. Works have stopped on some after scrapping the old bitumen and traffic diversion. Meanwhile, the roads linking the capital to FCT & SW via Kwara are in deplorable conditions. A whole lot of roads within Minna itself are not motorable. This governor replaced streetlight poles. The old ones weren't rusted or bad. If anything must be done to them, maybe repainting. Unfortunately, the supposed replacements were thinner and not as strong as the replaced I forsee lots of abandoned projects by the end of this man's tenure and the ones that will be completed will likely not have maximal impact on the lives of the ordinary citizens.
I can conclusively say that you are just a critic of Gov. Bago. What he is doing is never a misplacement of priority, he is doing just what is needed of him to be done as a governor. Gradually he will reach out to those areas too. But most at times we don't always derive positive meanings from what we see out of hatred or something similar. Within just one year of his stay in office he has done wonders, he has done more of what Abu Lolo our former Governor did in his 8years. Let burst your bubble, Bago is the best governor Niger state has ever had since it inception. I would love it if we are reasonable enough to support our leaders with prayers rather than criticize them.
I can conclusively say that you are just a critic of Gov. Bago. What he is doing is never a misplacement of priority, he is doing just what is needed of him to be done as a governor. Gradually he will reach out to those areas too. But most at times we don't always derive positive meanings from what we see out of hatred or something similar. Within just one year of his stay in office he has done wonders, he has done more of what Abu Lolo our former Governor did in his 8years. Let burst your bubble, Bago is the best governor Niger state has ever had since it inception. I would love it if we are reasonable enough to support our leaders with prayers rather than criticize them.
You most definitely don't know the meaning of priority. The fact that your state has been unlucky with governors shouldn't takeaway your ability to know that A should come before B. If you think he should build a university before "reaching out to basic education", I want to believe you attended tertiary institution before pry and secondary. What is needed is spending billions on Airport that serves barely 5000 people in a state flooded with Almajiri? Or scrapping off asphalt on motorable roads while neglecting vital bad ones. Why should Chachanga-Ostrich roundabout be reconstructed when Minna section of Abuja-Minna is bad? When Minna-Bida will soon start swallowing vehicles as rainy season has started? These are vital roads that will further open up the economy of the capital.
You need a teaching hospital when the general hospital is almost non functioning? Seems you don't go out of that Niger, no right thinking exposed person will say Gov Bago is doing what is needed of him to be done. This gov will be 12 months in office and no single intracity road he started has been completed. Yet, he keeps starting new ones,even economically non-viable ones.
I'm criticizing him out of hatred because I contested the seat with him na or because I want to unseat him in 2027. I'm just a frequent commuter through Niger, not an indigene. So, he does well or not is the least of my problem. You either mischievously ignored my opening statement saying he has great dreams for the state or you're a sycophant, a political jobber, or neophyte. May God spare our lives, I'll quote you in 2027 with abandoned projects that will litter everywhere in that state. It's not by what a governor wants to do but by what the people need and what the govt have resources for.
His best, most appropriate and commendable project so far is the tractor procurement, if it'll be properly administered and the farmers would be secured on their farms. It's
