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Nigeria�s march to a
virile and united nation
Recently, the Governor of BauchiState,
Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu (Walin Bauchi), was honoured with the 2004 Zik
Leadership Award for Good Governance in Port Harcourt. On the occasion, the governor talked about
the Nigerian state, how it got to the nadir of nationhood and the way outof the
quagmire. Belowis
the governor�s speech:
The legendary Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Zik of
Africa,epitomises love, compassion, idealism, sacrifice and commitment to
thedevelopment and sustainability of our country as an indivisible entity.
Zik fought hard to ensure that we are what we
aretoday by sacrificing his personal ambition. He is a reference point in
therenaissance of our intellectual tradition of charting the way for
theemancipation of Nigeria. We are certainly proud to receive an award bearing
thename of this sage, a man who lived his conviction as a democrat by
everystandard.
Our collective ability to exercise free thoughts
andideas on the way to move our country forward to the path of greatness is
theonly way to justify the sacrifice of this great African.
For Nigeria to move forward we must work
collectivelytowards changing our attitudes by engaging in transparent
leadership with thesole aim of developing national feeling for our country and
a spirit of a newnational culture built around patriotism and love.
However, there are some fundamental problems we
needto address so as to bring all segments to the mainstream of
nationalconsciousness. The most pronounced problems are the deliberate
diversion ofpublic funds for personal use at the detriment of the common man;
the use ofreligion and tribal affinities to promote divisive tendencies; the
continuouspromotion of the false lines drawn to further polarise the nation
through theuse of North-South dichotomy; and of recent, the indigene/settler
syndrome,which has done much harm than good to the unity and brotherhood for
which thegreat Zik stood for. I should not also forget the most endemic problem
of theimpact of oil and gas exploration in the Niger Delta region and its
effects onthe people and the environmental bio-diversity which deserve serious
attention.
Time is ripe for us to expunge the indigene
factorfrom the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We should be
seen tobe moving forward into the era of hitech than moving back to primitive
age. Weshould exploit the diversity in our culture and multi-ethnic nature of
ourcountry to create a pan-Nigerian, where every Nigerian can go and be what
hewants to be anywhere in the country without fear of harassment or
molestation.It is the only thing that will create the spirit of Nigerianness in
us than tostateness in our people.
It is time we give leadership a new meaning. It
istime we start serving rather than be served. It is time we realise the
burdenof leading in a transparent manner than making leadership as an
enterprise.
At this juncture, I must commend the
multi-facetedreform package being undertaken by Mr President, affecting all
perspectives ofour development. I must honestly state that reforms are painful
but the endresult is golden.
However, we must do all this through thedemonstration
of leadership by example and through respect to human dignity bythe application
of rule of law and restoration of faith between the leadershipand the led.
Effective, honest and genuine service delivery is the only armourof democracy.
The great Zik of Africa, an illustrious son
ofOnitsha, Anambra, and indeed Nigeria and Africa, as well as founding father
ofmodern Nigeria, represented a rare breed of conscience patriots this
countryhas ever had. In his far-sightedness, he seemed to have perceived the
crisis ofreputation which our dear nation, Nigeria, would be facing in the face
ofinequities. If the Nigerian man's dignity was lost in the early sixties
whenthis country came on stream as an independent nation, only God knows
whatamount of rubble and debris now rests on it over four decades.
We have great work to restore the dignity of
Nigeria.As leaders, we have a huge responsibility thrust upon us by the people
ofNigeria to reshape our thinking and attributes so as to imbue ourselves
withpatriotic sentiments that will lift our nation high.
Every nation holds dear certain values. Such
valuessurvive every political administration and represent immoveable and
immutableparameters and standards by which utterances, actions and political
decisionsand policies are judged.
Against this backdrop, what would we say are
thevalues that Nigerians hold dear? Some countries derive these values from
thetime-tested teachings of the great religions; some from their
peculiarhistorical experiences and yet others from their economic antecedents.
It isnot that we don't have a rich reservoir of these experiences to draw
from;rather it is that we have unfortunately chosen to subsist as a
valuelesssociety. As a people, we have become adept at changing the goal post
even inthe midst of our socio-political game as a nation. We deliberately make
therules and deliberately disobey them. In fact, the ability to break the law inthis
country with effrontery is a status symbol indicative of the breakersclout and
power in society. That is why if you jump the queue, you areperceived as
powerful.
Patience, which is a virtue in every sane society,
isthe lot of the poor, unconnected and foolish in Nigeria.
While I commend President Olusegun Obasanjo for
theestablishment of Due Process in government, I must remind that he has a
titanicbattle in his hands. The battle should be sustained and carried to the
variousfacets of civil society for complete success. There should be no sacred
cows.
Nigeria is rich in traditions. These traditions
aretandem in condemnation of greed, rudeness, and disrespect for elders
andauthority, dishonesty, avarice, promiscuity, stealing, corruption and all
othersocietal vices. The few who are benefiting from these vices are not
allowing uscraft a pan-Nigerian culture based on decency and the fear of God.
In the process, the Nigerian has been
bastardised,robbed of his pride and reduced to a nonentity in a country where
the worth ofa man is calculated in terms of how much money he has and who he
knows.
In a country where hard work does not pay,
lazinessand its attendant evils become imperative. In a country where praise
singingpays more than the noble professions, otherwise potentially productive
peoplegradually metamorphosed into palace jesters. In a country where political
pimpsenjoy the spoils of governance, real nationalists and patriots
becomespectators even when things are going wrong. Pushed by desperation in
amono-economy that offers few or no employment, the nation's qualified
youthshave perfected all sorts of dubious means to short-change the economy
andunsuspecting foreigners. Cheating has been elevated to an art in Nigeria
andthe quick dividends derivable from it can be irresistible to the
morallydeprived.
We can go on and on pointing out the woes
andindignity or crisis of reputation suffered by Nigerians, especially outside
theshores of this country. Our reputation is bad, indeed very bad.
First and foremost, we must change our values as
anation. In Bauchi State, we have come to grips with the fact that
ourdevelopment efforts must be man-centred, people-oriented and people-driven.
Wehave stopped defining development in abstract terms to mean provision
ofartefacts and monuments that have no real bearing to the aspirations and
needsof the people. Development is about people, not statistics.
As a result, we have directed our efforts at
areasthat positively impact on the lives of our people. In this connection, we
havebuilt over 500 kilometres of roads in the state. This involves 120 numbers
ofroads both urban and rural, which have improved the movement of people
andgoods, especially agricultural produce. We have electrified 378 towns
andvillages. We have provided 400 communities with potable water,
andrehabilitated 1908 boreholes.
We have revolutionised our educational system
suchthat we have recorded over 4,000 numbers of students who scored five
creditsand above to gain entry into the university system as against the only
fourstudents recorded in 1999 prior to our assumption of office. We
haveconstructed over 2,000 new blocks of classrooms, renovated about 2,000
othersand established some special schools.
An Action Plan was developed from a retreat
organisedfor public officers and civil servants to ensure efficiency and
productivity.The civil service has been reorganised and computerised. A culture
of regularpayment of salaries has been maintained in the last five years.
Differentmotivational policies have been implemented to encourage our civil
servants.Pensions are paid regularly. We have completed the second phase of the
statesecretariat and have embarked on the third phase, with December 2004 as
completiontime, in addition to recruitment of 2,000 new workers.
We have a systematic Poverty Alleviation
Programme,which saw the creation of Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and
CooperativeDevelopment. Our youth are being trained in different skills
acquisitionprogrammes with varying loans to start their own businesses. Over
10,000 youthhave benefited from this programme. 30,000 others are programmed to
benefitbefore the end of the year. Seven of our abandoned industries have
beenrehabilitated and a multi-purpose Bauchi Plastics Company established. Effortsare
on to rehabilitate the Yankari Games Reserve to assume an internationalstatus.
Agriculture, the mainstay of the state's economy,
hasreceived attention. In particular, fertiliser procurement and distribution
inthe last five years went according to plan, with our state recording
bumperharvest. Bauchi State was even in a position of sufficiency to be able
torespond to request from neighbouring Yobe, Plateau and Zamfara States. We
havemade strides in our environmental beautification land uplift policies with
anew re-engineered system of turning waste into wealth through the
constructionof about 200 modern shops to encourage commercial activities. We
are almostcompleting work on Tambari and Gubi Housing Estates to allow our
citizens owntheir own houses.
In our health policy, we are paying attention to
bothsecondary and primary health care systems. While we have maintained
anautomatic employment policy for doctors and pharmacists, we have
instituteddifferent incentives to ensure the best brains are attracted to the
state. Wehave constructed nine new general hospitals while six others have
beenrenovated and the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, is being turned into a
centre ofexcellence. We have improved our revenue generation profile and
maintained apolicy of not borrowing to execute development projects, externally
orinternally. Prudence has been our watchword in using what we have and
onlydoing what our people want. We have striven to maintain security of lives
andproperty in our state in spite of the influx of over 40,000
internallydisplaced persons from Plateau State to our state. I believe this
concisepresentation of activities and advancements in our state are by no
meansexhaustive. This is a testimony to the sincerity and commitment we have
pledgedto apply in discharging the onerous duties and legitimate expectations
ofmeaningful dividends of democracy to our people.
These projects are by no means white elephantprojects. They have changed for the better the lives of our citizens, whoseworth has been socio-economically redefined. Their lots have improved. Theyhave been empowered. They now see themselves as genuine stakeholders in theBauchi State project. As a result, their psyche has changed. You can see it intheir smiling faces. I can feel it in the unalloyed support they give myadministration. The people of Bauchi State have found a new dignity and pridethat is a product of our practical understanding and appreciation of theconcept of development. Bauchi State today remains the most shinning example ofstate creation.
For our country to move forward, we must make
theacquisition of ill-gotten and inexplicable wealth unattractive. The era
ofvenerating every moneybags with the offer of chieftaincy titles,
honorarydegrees and public acclaim should be discarded. For a change, let us
seeordinary Nigerians recognised by our institutions. The dignity of the
Nigerianworker � deprived but not depraved; denied but not demonic,
humiliatedbut still humble, cheated but still cheerful � must be restored.
We must come to terms with the basic truth that if
wedon't respect ourselves at home, we will not be respected abroad.
Ourlife-changing institutions, such as churches, mosques, schools and
families,must be valued. Government and a lot of others must be at the
forefront in oureffort to restore the lost dignity of the Nigerian. Our
experiment in Bauchiteaches us that if governance is defined in terms of man's
comfort and that ifdevelopment is still all about people and their well-being,
then man's self-esteemis elevated and his utterances and actions will put him
on a high ground ofdignity. It is pertinent to emphasise at this juncture that
resourcefulleadership is not the exclusive preserve of those in government
alone but thecollective burden of all our people, irrespective of their
stations in life.The support and co-operation of every one of us is essential
and we mustcontinue to extend such to our leaders and our nation, for the
benefit ofhumanity.
I thank you all.
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