I Will Never Contest Same public Office With Buhari, Jonathan ― Bala Mohammed
•Says Buhari, GEJ shaped his political life
By Abdullahi idris,Bauchi
Bauchi State Governor,
Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has declared that he will never contest the same political office with President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Bala Mohammed was speaking on Thursday when the President commissioned the multimillion dollars urban water supply system in Bauchi saying, “I for one, will never forget the support you gave me which saw my election as a Senator in 2007.”
The Governor stressed that “This marked the beginning of my political ascension, prominence and glory.
For this reason, I hold you and former President Goodluck Jonathan in the highest esteem.
I will never aspire to any political position in which any of you has an interest. While I remain eternally grateful to you, I want to assure you that I will always remember you and protect your integrity and your family in whatever I may find myself in life”.
Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir said that “Your Excellency, without any fear of contradiction, I wish to state that no state out of the 36 States of Nigeria including the Federal Capital City, Abuja, loves you more than Bauchi State.”
The Governor added that “You are the most loved, relished and appreciated politician in Nigeria today.
Your precedence and pedigree as a man of high moral standing, incorruptibility and compassionate disposition towards the common man stand you out as a colossus and phenomenon.”
He said that “Water Supply is an important component of service delivery of every responsible government. Like all other service provision, water supply is dynamic as a result of population growth which is brought about by birth, migration from crisis-ridden areas to safer havens and rural to urban drift.”
He added that the result of all this is the overstretching of public utilities, including water supply saying also that the situation in Bauchi is compounded by the dilapidated infrastructure my administration met on assumption of office as the water supply schemes in most communities were either operating in an epileptic manner or completely broken down.
According to the Governor, “Metropolitan Bauchi has, for a long time, been bedevilled by the scarcity of potable water. Its population has been growing in leaps and bounds, largely because of the relative peace it enjoys. The last time water supply infrastructure in the metropolis was upgraded was in 1992, about 27 years ago.”
He also said that “The 1992 expansion work, was meant to meet the water demand of the metropolis up to the year 2005. However, the expansion did not come until now, some 14 years after.
This is a challenge typical of developing nations where investment in infrastructure lags behind demand.”
“Mr President, my government inherited the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (NUWSRP3), a World Bank-supported project initiated by your good government and our predecessors,” he said.
He explained that the project commenced in 2015 with Bauchi State as one of the selected beneficiary states, as a key measure to address the water shortage challenge in the Bauchi metropolis.
“It was to realise this noble object that on the assumption of the office my administration pursued the project with vigour. Consequently, in our avowed determination to ensure continuity and dynamism in governance, we flagged off the various construction activities under the project, which hitherto had been dormant due to lack of political will,” he added.
The Governor also said that “Another issue that we had to contend with was the lull in the execution of the project due to late commencement of the procurement process and eventual impact of COVID-19 which all negatively impacted the World Bank timelines on the project.”
He emphasised that “I personally spearheaded the request for the extension of the project period to compensate for the time lost as most manufacturing companies overseas were shut down and the shipment came to a standstill.”
He further explained that “The World Bank gave an extension of six months at the first instance and later gave additional three months.
This made it possible to complete the project which is being commissioned today.
The project is meant to resolve the water supply challenges of the Bauchi metropolis for the next 20 years and beyond. At its full capacity utilisation, it will provide the water demand of over one million inhabitants of Bauchi metropolis.”
According to him, “the components of the project comprised of the rehabilitation of Gubi Dam and its appurtenances; the rehabilitation and expansion of the Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant from its former capacity of 45million litres to 75million litres; the replacement of the 800-millimetre diameter old and leaking steel material pumping mains with 1000 millimetre diameter ductile iron pipe from Gubi Dam to Warinje and Buzaye Reservoirs; the construction of 7 million litres capacity Concrete Reservoir on Buzaye Hill and rehabilitation of the 2 x 11 million litres concrete reservoir on Warinje Hills; the replacement and extension of 210 km of pipelines within the city centre and new layout and installation of meters; the procurement and 10,000 domestic among other meters bulk installation of for sustainability.”
He then said that the Project was executed at the total cost of NGN23,596,194,172.00 pointing out that 90% of this amount was borne by the World Bank while the Bauchi State government contributed 10% as a counterpart fund.
The governor reiterated the avowed commitment of his government to service delivery in general and water supply in particular stressing that government will do all within its powers and available resources to resuscitate the hitherto moribund water supply facilities in all the communities within the state.
“To this end, we have commenced the resuscitation of most of the moribund water supply schemes in the Local Government areas, particularly the urban centres. The following are few of the water supply service delivery in some parts of the state”, the governor said.
He explained that his administration has commenced the construction of a dedicated powerline from Azare to the waterworks that serve both Azare and Jama’are towns stressing that providing a dedicated powerline to the waterworks will ensure quality power supply from the national grid which in turn will enhance the supply of water. This project is ongoing and will be completed soon.
It also embarked on the design and construction for the supply of water in Ningi and Dass towns; design and provision of water in all headquarters of local governments of the State which has started in Alkaleri Local Government as a pilot.
The approach according to the Governor is to upgrade these facilities to ensure the water supply needs of the State Capital and all the local government headquarters which will allow the government to do more with the little resources at its disposal.
“I want to use this opportunity to appreciate and thank the Federal Government for its support to Bauchi State towards uplifting the standard of living of its people.
The project we are commissioning today would not have been possible without the sovereign guarantee and selection of Bauchi State as a beneficiary by your good administration,” he told the President.
While concluding, Bala Mohammed said that “Like Oliver Twist, we request that Bauchi State be included in other ongoing and future programmes and projects such as Partnership for Expanded Water Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) and Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH).”
He stressed that “it is a known fact that Bauchi State does not have a Master Plan and Investment Plan for the WASH sector.
We are however happy that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has agreed to include us in the consultancy to produce the Master Plan. We hope the consultancy will be concluded soonest to allow Bauchi State to access other support which, we have been told, requires the Master Plan as a condition for participation”.
While commissioning the project, President Muhammadu Buhari commended the Bauchi State Government for embarking on the project and ensuring that it was completed and put to use for the good of the people saying that the importance of good water supply cannot be overemphasised.
Represented by Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Muhammadu Buhari
said that his administration attached great priority to the provision of water to Nigerian communities to safeguard their health.
The President also said that over the past few years, the Federal Government gave more primacy to upgrading the infrastructure base of the country to harness development and improve the living condition of the people of the country.
He further said that the health and water sectors received greater attention from his administration out of his appreciation that they are crucial and critical at guaranteeing and safeguarding the health of Nigerians.
The President affirmed that his decision to declare a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sector is gradually yielding positive results to the glee of Nigerians.
He commended Governor Bala Mohammed for his unwavering dedication and commitment to providing infrastructure to the good people of Bauchi State.
