Gombe: Who replaces Goje?
Friday, 19 February 2010 21:39
The entire people of Gombe State are currently living in a state of suspended enthusiasm, precipitated by heightened apprehension as to who replaces Dr. Muhammad Danjuma Goje (Sarkin Yakin Gombe). Come 2011 the governor would be one of five governors in the country who completes their second and final terms in office and have to step down, as provided by the constitution. Over those periods, Danjuma Goje has succeeded in transforming the young state from a developmentally deprived state into a state that can compete with any in the country, including those created long before it, in terms of social infrastructure, education, agriculture, aviation, communication, and many other developmental indices.
The expectations that would be on whoever steps into the big shoes of Goje are certainly going to be high. He who succeeds Danjuma Goje must firstly be honest and truthful, and secondly, familiar with and favourably inclined to the basic needs of the populace, if not their expectations and well-being. During his reign, Danjuma Goje set a high standard of achievement. This singular milestone has generated scepticism, with much uncertainty, of a competent successor that will continue from where he stops.
First of all, whoever will be capable of succeeding Danjuma Goje has to be amiable and devoted and should have the priority of taking Gombe State forward. The physical structures laid by the governor are regarded as his foremost achievement, but to us his greatest achievement lies in the maintenance of peace. Whoever replaces Goje has to be someone with international exposure who can canvass for foreign investors to exploit the abundant human and natural resources the state is blessed with and map out strategies for industrialization. Gombe State is growing rapidly; the rate of growth should be supplemented with befitting industries, having this as one of the priorities is expected of the next governor. Danjuma Goje has done virtually everything needed for the development of a young state like Gombe; building on those legacies would be the next line of action.
We expect he who replaces Goje to focus on exploiting the state’s potential in agriculture with a view to making the state a real Jewel of the Savannah and the food basket of the north east sub-region, as well as rallying point for other states in the north in terms of direct access to all the basic necessities of life. The successor to Danjuma Goje has to be one that can formulate people-oriented programmes by ensuring the adequate implementation of policies geared towards changing the lives of the populace so that everyone will taste the required dividends of the basic needs of life that will include, but not be limited to, potable drinking water, uninterrupted water supply, qualitative education that must be mandatory to all, adequate and affordable healthcare facilities to all.
Danjuma Goje’s successor has to be a reformer who has the wherewithal to formulate programmes designed to turn around fortunes of the state and reduce, to the barest minimum, poverty and deprivation in the society. This crusader should be set to redefine government policies in concordance with the country’s vision 20:2020 through the creation of an enabling environment for result-oriented and sustainable growth in the private and public sectors, with a view to having a strong, diversified, competitive and technologically- enabled economy. Our next governor should be a person that can ensure the maintenance of due process mechanism in governance focused towards having value for money and reducing wastages in financial transactions. This would improve government expenditure by ensuring prudence as well as institutionalisation of transparency, openness and probity in the conduct of government business. The people of Gombe State are known to be industrious, the state has the largest number of self-help projects in the entire northern part of the country, and the incoming government can take advantage of this to revitalize the economy.
The next Gombe State governor should prioritise reduction of unemployment in the state; our state generates thousands of new entrants into the labour market with only 15% of those getting employment. This is a precarious signal for the future; in this regards, we need a person with private sector development initiative who would facilitate job creation by utilising the abundant natural resources the state is endowed with.
We have individuals who, if given the chance, can take Gombe State forward. All hands should be on deck to ensure that Goje’s replacement as governor of Gombe State demonstrate that they have what it takes to take Gombe State forward.
Mohammed is of Gombe Integrity Group (GIG), Jeka da Fari Shopping Complex, Gombe, Gombe State
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