By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Amidst tumultuous crowd of families, friends and of supporters, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State along side his Deputy, Hon. Auwal Jatau has taken Oath of office to serve the State for the next four years.
Addressing the marmot crowd that thronged the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium to witness the historic moment in his inaugural speech, Governor Bala Mohammed thanked Allah (SWA) and the people of the State for giving him another mandate of Four Years to lead the State, promising them that the confidence they reposed in him will be justified through entrenchment of good governance that will impact positively on the lives of the citizenry.
Going down memory lane on the first tenure of the administration, Governor Bala Mohammed said that, they have gathered so much on the road that they can now claim, with all modesty, that they have enough to draw from, to launch the next phase of our developmental agenda.
The Governor said that they are conscious that no one has a monopoly of wisdom, just as they did prior to taking office in 2019, and that the strategy of their government going forward is being distilled from both experience and the report of two expert committees that he had commissioned recently.
“Our primary focus remains peace and security and the welfare of our people and everybody living in Bauchi State. In sectoral terms, we shall not only prioritize education and agriculture as critical areas with inestimable value chains that will impact on all our plans, but I also hereby declare an emergency in these two sectors. They will rank only with staff salaries and security as first line charges critical to the survival and future progress of the state
My dear compatriots, with the election over, we must now prioritize governance over politics, the collective over the personal, principle over ego, consensus over conflict and turn challenges into opportunities. No matter where we stand, we can and should never disagree on one point: the primacy of Bauchi over each and every one of us. That is the bond that holds us together”, said Governor Bala Mohammed.
While urging citizens of the State to join the Government in contributing their quota for the development of the said, Governor Bala said, “I must re-emphasize that without a critical mass of the elite agreeing to set aside their differences and deliberately pull their intellectual, material and social capital together, achieving the Bauchi of our dream will remain a mirage. Therefore, with all humility, I am calling on all and sundry who mean well and who, like me, have benefitted from our dear state, to put aside our differences, place our agenda on the table and work together with the present Administration to advance the interests of the state. Together, we can succeed”.
He also reiterated that Bauchi State has no reason to be poor, emphasising that, “I want to assure you that by the grace of God, the Mandate you have renewed will be deployed to position Bauchi State where it ought to be, a position that, if I may repeat, is characterized by good governance anchored on transparency and accountability, an inclusion and diversity management policy, founded on the principles of equity, justice and fairness, prudent management of resources, peace and security, all leading to shared prosperity for all”.
The Governor then concluded his inaugural speech saying, “I consider the above deliverables, as minimum milestones that I shall, for the next four years, commit my every energy, faculty and fibre to achieving, not because I want to be remembered by them, but because you deserve no less for entrusting in me, the son of a humble District Head from the backwaters of Duguri, with your present hopes and aspirations and above all, the future of generations to come”.