22nd June, 2021
By Olaide Ayinde
The Governor Mohammed Bala-led administration said it has constructed and rehabilitated 199.7 kilometers of township and intercity roads in Bauchi State since assumption of office two years ago.
Media Aide to the Governor, Mouktar Gidado, disclosed this in a statement to mark the second anniversary of Gov. Mohammed’s administration in the state.
He said that Mohammed’s people-focused projects and programmes were executed in line with his “My Bauchi Project” enunciated during his inauguration on May 29, 2019.
The projects include the construction of 6.25km Sabon Kaura -Jos road; 4.4Km Gombe By-pass road, 1.1km Muda Lawan Market dual carriage road and the 1.8km Yakubun Bauchi link road.
Others under construction are the 1.8 km Tafawa Balewa Road and the 1.5 km Hospital Road projects; 16Km Sade – Akuyam Road which links Darazo and 58.4 Km Yelwan Duguri – Tora – Badaran Dutse, both in Southern and Central Senatorial Districts, respectively.
These projects and the construction of another 11 township roads in Bauchi metropolis are at 90 per cent completion, Gidado said.
Other ongoing road projects by the present administration, he said, are 3km Bununu Township road in Tafawa Balewa LGA; 2.65 Sade township road in Darazo LGA; 1.65km Disina township road with flood control project and drainage system.
Gidado said the 13.5 km Warji- Gwaram road project links Bauchi State with Jigawa, while the 11.6km Bogoro to Lusa and Malar as well as the 11.2km Boi to Tapshin road projects links communities in the two LGAs of Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa with Plateau.
According to him, the present administration has also dualized the 17.7 km Giwo Academy to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Airport and the 7km Awalah roundabout- Adamu Jumba Road linking DogonYaro roundabout and Zaranda Hotel.
The 24.5km Itas to Gadau linking the two major cities in ItasGadau lga and the 15km Arinja- Balma as well as the 2.5km Nasaru township road were also under construction, he said.
According to him, hundreds of kilometres of road projects are currently ongoing or completed in rural communities designed to open up the state, link communities and ease the movement of produce to the markets.
On water supply, he said that Mohammed’s administration has constructed 13 new community water supply schemes, rehabilitated 160 hand pump boreholes and installed 48 solar motorized water supply schemes.
It also constructed 8000 Hand pump Boreholes in 12 LGAs and provided 58 motorized solar-powered water supply in 58 primary health centres in the state.
The administration has also commenced the construction and installation of 1,120 motorised boreholes across its 20 local government areas, which are now at 85 percent completion, Gidado said.
“We are building about 143 boreholes in Dambam Local Government alone, we have 120 boreholes, in Giade, we have 109, and across the state, we have a total of 1,120 boreholes,” the governor had said.
In order to block leakages in public finances, more than 2,116 ghost workers, including 100 doctors and 120 health workers, were purged in a verification exercise designed to sanitise the civil service as well as promote probity and transparency in governance.
“There is a collusion between the beneficiaries and staff members to the extent that the software we are using has been opened to a lot of manipulations, therefore, we cannot rely on it,” the governor had said.
He said that for the first time in 12 years, Gov. Mohammed successfully conducted local council elections within the first year of his administration to promote inclusiveness in governance at the grassroots.
“This is the only way we can show and deepen democracy in Nigeria as we all know that, caretaker system is not democratic and is unconstitutional, but we have to fill in the vacuum,” the governor had said.
To cater for the housing needs of its more than seven million population, Mohammed initiated the New Bauchi City, involving the construction of 2,500 housing units of 3 and 2 bedrooms flats across the state.
Gov Mohammed is also building a befitting Government House in Bauchi at a cost of N6. 2 billion to leave good legacy and landmark for successive government and people of the state.
Among facilities in the new Government House are the International Conference Centre, the Governor’s residence, and residences of key staff, Gidado said.
On health, he said that 43 PHC facilities were renovated, while 204 PHCs spread across 10, out of the 20 local government areas, were upgraded and stocked with medical consumables in collaboration with UNICEF and World Bank, respectively.
Also, a total of 350 out of the 1,000 commercial tricycles promised by the administration have been procured and delivered to empower the youth in place of the banned commercial motorcycles in the state.
On education, he said the Bala Mohammed-led administration constructed 238 new classroom blocks and renovated 406 classrooms with school furniture worth N5 billion jointly with Universal Basic Education Commission and state Universal Education Board.
According to him, the government is negotiating a public-private sector intervention to revamp the Galambi Cattle Ranch, Gubi and Madangala Dairy Farms as well as the Bauchi Meat Products Company.
To this end, the state government is collaborating with Matli Holdings Group, a South African conglomerate, in revamping these entities and attracting investors into the state’s agriculture, education, health and tourism sectors.
On security, Gov. Mohammed recently procured 50 JAC pick-up operational vehicles at the cost of N759.5 million and distributed them to both conventional and nonconventional security agencies to beef up security in the state.